Shadows Beneath
by EbonyOsmosis
Summary: Their eyes met, and the metal clipboard clattered to the ground loudly. She backed away, turning to flee the room. He heard her echoing cry of 'doctor' fade down the hallway outside. -AU Storyline, 2x5 in last chapter-
1. Anomaly

Shadow Beneath

Chapter 1: Anomaly

* * *

"_However invincible you imagine yourself to be  
You are wrong"_

_-Ani DiFranco, Parameters_

* * *

A quiet room. White walls, white bed, white hospital clothes, but not a hospital. The only sound was the gentle monotony of the heart monitor, softly beeping with every beat of blood rush. White washed, desolate, with only a window letting in any kind of life. The glow of the setting sun illuminated the still figure on the bed, hooked up with so many wires and tubes. The white-washed door opened and a nurse entered the room, the clacking of her heels echoing so loudly in the cavernous silence. The shoes seemed so ridiculously out of place with her conservative white scrubs and the entire hospital vibe. She approached the patient and removed the chart at the foot of the bed, flipping it open to make updates to his status. A pen was removed from her pocket, the click sounding like a gunshot in the vast silence.

As she was writing down his heart rate, she didn't notice the way a pair of cerulean eyes shot open, because his body remained stock still in perfect control, tightly coiled muscles humming with the threat of his seemingly placid environment. Those eyes darted around the room, taking in every minute detail, and he lost his control. Previously controlled breathing sped up, and with the increasing sound of the heart rate, the nurse turned to look at him with a curious gaze. Their eyes met, and the metal clipboard clattered to the ground loudly. She backed away, turning to flee the room and fill the silence with the obscenely loud clacking of heels marking her exit. He heard her echoing cry of 'doctor!' fade down the hallway outside.

The door sat temptingly open.

He sat up slowly, feeling as if his body were made of thickening cement. He had to work through the stiffness, painfully teaching his limbs to move again after so long in hiatus from anything physical. Something tickled his arm, and he looked down to find a tube connected to an IV bag. His eyebrows furrowed in a strange mix of confusion and fear right before he ripped out the needle, where a bead of blood welled up from the pinprick wound. Several more of these followed, along with small electrodes with wires trailing to a complicated looking machine. With the severance of the one on his chest, the heart rate went flat. "What the hell is going on?" he croaked, his throat sore from weeks of disuse. He threw back the covers and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, stumbling slightly from the head rush that followed standing up so abruptly. His vision swam for a moment, legs quivering and hurriedly circulating blood at the sudden activity.

He shuffled over to the dropped chart, trying to steady the shaking in his hands as his eyes flew over the information. "Is that my name?" he asked himself, frightened by the fact that he _didn't know _if that was who he was supposed to be.

_Patient name: Duo Maxwell_

_Age: 17_

_Status: Code Orange_

Before he could read anymore, the nurse reappeared in the doorway. A look of shock captured her face at seeing him out of bed, and she eased inside. "Please, you shouldn't be up. You need to lie down..." she said in a slightly shaking voice, trying to placate the boy who was suddenly awake. If only the doctors would hurry up and get here...

"Where the hell am I?" Duo demanded, tossing the chart to the bed and making his way towards the nervous woman.

She backed up hastily. "Please, sir, I have to ask you to calm down."

"Like hell! Tell me where I am!" he roared angrily, fists clenching in anger because she wouldn't just _tell _him!

Brown eyes darting all about the room in panic, she finally turned tail and fled once more. Duo rolled his eyes and approached the open door, looking left and right down the hallway. More stark white walls, bright, blinding lights lining the ceiling and keeping everything perfectly washed in white brilliance. Seeing no one, the braided boy set off, forgetting about finding out where he was and only focusing on getting _out._ This was no hospital. He felt something in the air that had given him chills the moment he'd woken up. And why wouldn't the nurse answer his questions? He growled low in his throat, almost startling himself with how feral it sounded. His blue eyes peered around, and suddenly he spotted a door marked 'storage.' Maybe he could find a spare set of clothes to get into. The hospital outfit wasn't horrible, a white sleeveless shirt and washed-out blue pants as thin as paper, but they just weren't going to make the cut.

He turned the knob, surprised to find it unlocked, and stepped inside. Instead of medical supplies and instruments of torture, he found bins on shelves. Most of them were empty with the labels scrubbed or torn off, and the few that held anything contained nothing of use. Then, he found a bin labeled with _his _name. "This must be my stuff from when they first brought me here," he whispered, rifling through it. There was a set of clothes, a pair of shoes, and a black messenger bag. He was just about to change out of the hospital clothes...

And then an alarm blared.

Duo hurriedly stuffed his feet into the ratty old sneakers and bolted out of the storage room, pausing to look around. He could hear sounds of people bustling around somewhere. "Shit," he cursed, picking a direction and darting down the hallway. Duo threw the strap of the messenger bag over his head and stuffed the clothes inside as he ran. Luckily, he found a stairwell and flew down the steps, the sound of shouts fueling him on. He came to the ground floor and hit the double doors running. They banged loudly in his wake, and he only paused a moment to scope out his surroundings. A parking garage caught his eye, and he sprinted across the empty street into the safety of the concrete structure.

Immediately, something all too tempting caught his eye and made him grin as he made a beeline. The machine was beautiful, deadly sexy looking, jet black with a silver dragon decal on the side.

Duo examined the sport motorcycle closely, but his head shot up when voices flooded the courtyard across the street. He cursed angrily and his hands began to work all on their own accord, knowing what to do before Duo's brain realized he was doing it. He didn't realize or understand what he was doing until the engine roared to life under his hands, making him wonder when had he learned to hotwire? He shrugged it off and pushed the bike forward so it was off the kickstand, swinging a leg over the seat to get comfortable on the leather perch.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing with my motorcycle?"

The braided boy's head whipped around to see a furious Chinese teenager running towards him, looking like he'd gladly take Duo's head as a trophy. He glanced over at the crowd of doctors and security flooding in his direction. "Aw fuck!" he cursed, getting ready to make his escape.

But the stranger reached him and grabbed his arm just as he was about to take off, anger twisting his face. "Remove yourself. _Now,_" he growled in a deadly voice, booking no room for argument.

"Get on, then! I just need to borrow it!" Duo shouted.

There was a cacophony of noise, and they both turned then to look at the crowd of people coming after Duo. He jerked his arm, getting the guy's attention on him once more. "Don't be a fucking prude! Get on the bike!" he snarled.

With one last look at the approaching mob of angry security and doctors, the stranger gave in and hopped onto the back of the motorcycle. Duo took off before his ass was even fully on the seat. "Put on your helmet," he said grimly, a smile quirking his lips as he flew out of the parking garage. He took the next turn at high speed, whooping with excitement. The owner of the bike was barely able to put on his helmet between holding on for his life as such a dangerous speed. Duo laughed, enjoying the feel of wind ripping at his hair and clothes and the sudden ecstatic joy. "Apparently I know how to work a motorcycle, too!"

But his excitement was interrupted, and he tensed when he heard the squeal of car tires behind them, glancing over his shoulder. A white van was quickly gaining on them, and Duo squinted to get a better look at the occupants. The people in front were wearing lab coats and looked furiously upset. Facing forward again, the braided boy smirked and yelled to his passenger over the wind. "Hey buddy, unless you want some serious road rash, hang on tight!"

He revved the engine, and felt a pair of arms hesitantly wrap around his waist before he gunned it. He laughed again when the front of bike lifted up, feeling the indescribable rush of joy once more. The front tire touched down again, and they took off like a bat out of hell. The arms around his waist tightened in panic, and his snicker of amusement was rather breathless because the air had been squeezed out of him. His keen eyes spotted an alleyway, and he wrenched the bike down the small passage. He heard a screech as the van came to a halt, but he didn't expect it to be over that easily.

The motorcycle emerged from the back alley and came back onto open road. Duo looked around, slowing down just enough to get a bearing on the current level of threat. He couldn't see anything of their pursuers, and was starting to let the bike slow even more...

Until a white van came careening around the corner in front of them. Duo snarled in surprise and wrenched the bike right, gunning the gas as he headed into the empty parking lot of a shopping center. The adrenaline pumped through his veins as he heard the van clamber noisily over the curb after them, and he weaved through the few cars dotting the lot. Another exit of the lot caught his eye, because it had three metal posts preventing access of larger vehicles, so he headed for the ramp. Duo squeezed the bike through the small gap with pinpoint accuracy, revving the engine and putting on a burst of speed as the van came to a halt. The bike flew around the corner of the block and Duo took the first turn he saw after that, going through a range of turns and alleyways that would put the distance between them and the white van.

Surprisingly enough, that was the last they saw of Duo's pursuers. He eventually brought the bike to a slow stop next to a deserted park, killing the engine with adrenaline-shaky hands. Their ears rang in the sudden silence of the night, and Duo let out a puff of breath as if it were his first time breathing. He looked down then, observing the white knuckles and interlocked fingers above his stomach with an amused expression. "Dude, you can let go now." Slowly, the stiff hands pried apart and the Chinese boy shakily threw himself off the bike onto solid ground. Duo followed his example and slid off the vehicle, putting on the stand so it would stand up on its own. The braided boy turned to look at his spur of the moment benefactor. "Hey, thanks for the ride. I'd give you money for gas, but I seem to be broke," he joked with a grin. "Well, have a nice night!"

As Duo turned to leave, he dug into his bag of possessions, feeling weird snooping through his own things. He couldn't seem to remember any of this stuff, even though it was definitely his. How weird to discover his belongings all over again.

"Now wait just a moment!"

Turning with one eyebrow raised curiously, he stopped to face the fuming stranger.

The Chinese boy gestured behind them with a furious look. "What the hell was that about? Who were those people?"

Duo shrugged, ripping the medical I.D. bracelet from his wrist and stuffing it into the bag. No point in littering. "Hell if I know. I woke up in some strange place. It looked like a hospital, but it felt _bad,_" he explained helplessly, shrugging. "I had to make tracks, and your bike was the prettiest thing in the parking garage, so it's nothing personal."

The Chinese boy furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean you just _woke up_ there?"

"I don't know," Duo repeated, because it was one of many things he didn't know these days. "I only know my _name_ because I looked at the damn chart," he shrugged. Then he started to walk away again. The other young man seemed a bit frustrated at his nonchalance towards the whole situation.

"So where are you going to go?" the other boy asked, lips pursed in a frown.

A casual shrug was his answer. "I'll figure something out," Duo called over his shoulder.

The Chinese boy ran a hand over his hair in frustration, a war raging inside his head as his common sense battled with his morality. The stranger was walking further down the street in nothing but paper thin hospital clothes, braid swaying across his back with every step. Finally, Wufei's fingers grappled in frustration and he sighed. "Hey," he called.

Duo paused again and looked over his shoulder, an inquiring look on his face.

The dark haired youth sighed again, rubbing his head at the absurdity. He spoke in a grudging voice. "Do you want a place to stay?" he forced finally

Blinking in surprise, Duo fully turned to face the stranger. "Me? Stay with you? But you don't even know me," he said in casual confusion, looking a little baffled.

Eyes drifting skyward for a moment, the Chinese spoke again. "I know that, but this is an... unusual circumstance. I'd... feel bad for leaving you to wander alone, when you obviously have amnesia or something and no where to go." He crossed his arms over his chest, frustration returning. "Do you want a place to stay or not?"

Duo grinned at the grumpy offer, heading back over to his new pal and savior. "Hey, thanks man. I appreciate it. My name's Duo Maxwell," he introduced, holding his hand out to the other boy. "Who do I owe my gratitude?"

"Chang Wufei," the Chinese boy replied, hesitantly shaking the outstretched hand as their official greeting finally ensued. The silence and creeping darkness around them made him wary, though, and he didn't want to stick around any longer. "Now we'd better get going before those people come back."

"Can't argue with that!" Duo replied cheerfully, following Wufei back to the motorcycle. He couldn't help the tease that instinctively fell from his lips. "Can I drive?"

"NO."


	2. Anachronism

Shadows Beneath

Chapter 2: Anachronism

* * *

"_Everything is vague to a degree you do not realize till you have tried to make it precise."  
-Bertrand Russell_

* * *

"So how long were you in that place?" Wufei asked, tossing his keys onto the entrance table as they walked into the apartment. He stepped aside for his new acquaintance, closing the door and locking it in his wake.

"Not a clue," Duo replied, pulling out the black shirt he'd found in the bin. "I just woke up today and got out of there as soon as I found my stuff in a storage closet." He brought the clothing forward and took a curious sniff, nose wrinkling. "Whoa boy! I'd say a while, though. This smells like it's been in the trash or something," he groused, holding the shirt at arms distance.

"We'll get them washed," Wufei replied, turning on a nearby table lamp so the room lit up in a comfortable glow. "In the mean time you can borrow something of mine. Anyway, they obviously didn't expect you to wake up anytime soon, otherwise they'd have some sort of restraints in place. If they did have ill intent, that is," he trailed off.

"I'm sure they did," Duo mumbled, staring at a faded scrap of paper from the messenger bag. It was long past its prime, and he couldn't read whatever message once resided. "That place felt wrong. It felt... I can't explain it, but I get bad vibes just picturing that room..." He stopped his movements for a moment, then gave a shudder. Those white walls, white lights, white _everything _had gotten him lost in memory for a moment. The next thing he pulled from the bag was a cross on a silver chain, which dangled in all its tarnished glory. Studying it intently, the braided boy gained an odd look on his face. Wufei noticed.

"Are you religious?" he asked curiously.

"I don't think so," Duo replied, his voice distracted. "You'd assume so, but I feel like it meant something else," he mumbled quizzically. He stared at it closely where it dangled from the chain, rotating. He peered closer at the back, noticing something engraved there. Unfortunately, it was too worn, so it gave no clues. He shrugged and unhooked the clasp, reaching behind his neck to fasten it once more. The weight felt comfortable and welcome, like it belonged there.

He only noticed Wufei had left when he came back with a bundle of folded clothes. "You can use these until we get yours washed," he said, passing them into the braided boy's hands. "Bathroom is down the hall, first door on the right. There are clean towels if you want to shower. Tomorrow we'll find your family and contact them."

Duo blinked, looking like a curious child. "You can do that?"

Wufei nodded. "Public records. If not there, then the phone book. Though, we might have to go through a few 'Maxwell's before either option yields results."

"Oh," Duo said simply, curious. "Well then, that will still probably make things easier. It's a good thing I looked at my chart!" he said cheekily, grinning. Wufei rolled his eyes a little and turned to head for the kitchen so he could make them something to eat. He just reached the doorway when Duo spoke up, his tone light and happy, not at all how someone with amnesia should sound after just escaping from... _whatever _that place was. "Hey Wufei, thanks again. You're a good person."

The Chinese boy was oddly embarrassed by this, unable to figure out why the statement made him feel self conscious. He stood silent for a moment, not turning around to address the statement or the gratitude because he wasn't sure why it embarrassed him. "I'm going to make dinner, do what you need to in the mean time," he said quietly, ghosting into the kitchen.

Duo smiled, turning on his heel with a flourish to go find the bathroom. He didn't feel particularly disgusting, but he was in need of a shower. He also wanted to get the smell of that strange place off of him. Sterile, chemical, and troublesome. It burned his nose with a heavy scent, and he needed to wash it off. Duo suddenly paused in mid step, heading back over to his messenger bag as he wished he could remember ever owning it. He rustled through it a little, hoping, pleading...

"Yes!"

He pulled out a brush, thanking his stars that he'd apparently been enough of a nut about his hair that he'd carry one around. Although that was rather weird... He shrugged it off and walked down the hall to the first door on the right, which was open. He flicked the light switch and a clean, white tiled room greeted him, making Duo smile. It wasn't the sterile and white washed like that place. It was white in a kind of homey, open, and pleasantly neat way. Stepping inside and closing the door behind him, the braided boy took a moment to take in the soothing environment. He didn't know how a bathroom could be calming, but this one was. Duo was just setting the folded clothes on the counter when he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye.

He suddenly realized that he... didn't quite know what he looked like... That thought was oddly disturbing. So he looked in the mirror, taking every detail to memory, labeling it as '_me.'_

He had long brown hair, which he already knew. It was pretty hard to miss hair that went down to your ass. He also greeted the spiky, messy bangs with familiarity. They frequently framed his vision, but not enough to be annoying. His eyes were blue, he noted with interest. Very expressive, like an open window, intense blue. His nose was well defined, but a bit dainty looking, making him frown. His cheek bones were nothing to shake a stick at, only slightly visible. As far as Duo could tell, he was relatively average looking. Well, except for the hair. He tilted his face this way and that for several minutes, memorizing everything.

How odd to suddenly know what you look like.

Duo finally shrugged and turned to the shower, pushing open the frosted glass door. At that point, he was suddenly engaged in a staring contest with the knob that controlled the water flow and temperature. No big deal, he could figure this out. The braided boy pursed his lips and reached into the shower, turning the knob. Nothing happened, so he gave an experimental tug, smirking in satisfaction when water sprayed from the faucet. Okay. No problem. He spent another minute adjusting the temperature to his liking before stripping and tossing the hospital-like clothes into the waste basket. It amazed him how beautiful a shower felt. It felt like a forbidden treasure as warm water caressed his sore muscles, easing him into a long denied state of comfort.

His eyes spotted the bottles of hair care product sitting on a small shelf, and Duo automatically felt guilty. Here he was, in the home of a kind stranger, using his shower, about to put on his clothes and sleep under his roof. He shouldn't have accepted the offer to stay. How would he ever repay Wufei for his kindness?

Duo sighed, grabbing the bottle of shampoo.

* * *

Wufei was still in the kitchen when he heard the water shut off. He was almost done with the quick and simple dinner, and let his mind wander once more. He had done a lot of thinking in the past fifteen minutes, and the Chinese boy could only come to one conclusion.

This was absolutely insane.

What had he been thinking? Taking in a stranger who had been a second away from stealing his motorcycle? A stranger who had just come from... some secret government facility or something! They'd been _chased, _for pity's sake, like some stupid action movie. And how did he know this guy wasn't off his rocker? Maybe he was a dangerous patient escaped from a mental institution, which would explain the frantic commotion of doctors coming after them.

_I'm just a college student! _he fumed silently. _I go to class, I work out, I read, and I go to my lousy part time job! I don't do car chases and mysteries! I don't deal with random amnesiacs who try to steal my bike! I should have just thrown him off the seat and let him get taken back to that place!_

Wufei startled himself with that thought, more so than the clatter of the knife when it fell to the counter from his stunned fingers. "What am I thinking?" he whispered, brows furrowing. This was a human being who needed his help. He wasn't one to go around doing good deeds, but this person couldn't remember anything. He needed help. Wufei took in a calming breath and released it slowly. Right. Melt down over. No problem. He'd just had a moment of doubt, of wondering about the consequences of his actions. Fine.

When Duo walked into the kitchen, he had no idea of the little episode that had just passed. He felt much better from the shower, and the clean clothes helped as well. He'd wrangled as much water from his hair as possible, and now opted to let it hang loose in damp tendrils. It would dry faster than in a braid.

Wufei was at the counter, dishing food onto two plates. He heard the other boy's entrance and looked over his shoulder. "Have a seat. The food is done," he said calmly, expertly hiding the emotional results of his momentary freak out.

Duo nodded and sat down at the small table, observing the tidy kitchen with interest until the plate was set in front of him. To be polite, he waited until Wufei had taken his own seat before he picked up a fork. "Wow, this looks good," Duo said appreciatively. The plate's contents consisted of a medley of chopped foods that had been fried together to make a quick and delicious hash. There were perfectly golden brown diced potatoes, strips of chicken, sautéed onions, and diced tomatoes. He speared a piece of chicken and brought it to his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Once he swallowed, he grinned. "My compliments to the chef."

Wufei allowed himself a small smile. He didn't often have guests at his apartment, especially not for dinner. He didn't like the pressure to impress with the perfect meal, or being left with the dishes once they'd eaten and left. But Duo wasn't someone with standards for Wufei to live up to, just a person he was helping out, who didn't care if the meal was fancy or well thought out. That in itself was comforting, because they were on equal ground, no expectations, no pressure.

They ate in a comfortable silence, the events tomorrow would bring looming over them. Something had started to bother Duo, and he had absolutely no idea why it had come up, because there was no basis for that fear or that worry. By the time he was helping with the dishes, it was nagging so persistently that there was an uncomfortable knot in his stomach.

Did he have any family to find?

* * *

Wufei tapped his fingers impatiently as the vid phone beeped, waiting for the other end to answer. It kept on for another few seconds, until the screen flickered and someone appeared. From his position on the couch, Duo could just make out the image of a young man with messy chocolate colored hair and dark blue eyes. His eyebrows rose inquisitively. The guy looked all business, like he could snap your neck on a whim and then immediately wonder in a casual manner what he would have for dinner. What a fitting friend for Wufei.

"Heero," Wufei said in greeting, right to business.

"Wufei," he responded in a similar tone, and Duo had to bury his face in a pillow, resisting the urge to laugh. These two were _made _for each other.

"I need to borrow your car," the Chinese boy said without preamble.

One of Heero's eyebrows raised just a little, the most expression so far. He seemed suspicious, with just a hint of curiosity. He obviously did not get that kind of request often. Duo had to wonder what was going on inside that head of his. "My car. And why is that?"

Wufei pursed his lips and rolled his eyes a little. "I just _do. _Can I borrow it or not?" he asked, impatient.

Heero sighed in resignation, and Duo could tell by the sound of it that he'd given in. "Alright."

"I'll see you soon, then?"

Heero nodded quietly and the line cut. Wufei turned around and walked into the kitchen, grabbing his wallet off the tiled counter. When he faced his guest, he inclined his head towards the door. "Let's go."

Duo hopped off the couch in an instant, trotting after Wufei curiously. "Where we goin'?" He shut the door on the way out and caught up to the other boy at the top of the stairs.

"To Heero's house," he replied, heading down the steps to the first landing. "We're going to take his car across town to the library." Public records online hadn't yielded any results, so they would have to make due with their only other option.

"Why we taking his car?"

"I only have one helmet."

Duo stopped a moment, blinking in surprise. When Wufei kept going, he snapped out of it and trotted down the rest of the stairs and sprinted after him. "What, you expecting a car chase or something?"

"No," the Chinese boy replied. They hit the sidewalk and turned left, heading towards Heero's residence. Duo took a look around the area, mapping out features and street names while Wufei continued. "It's dangerous to ride without a helmet, and I won't accept either of us riding without one." He glanced over his shoulder, giving a calculating look. "You should have been wearing one, the way you were driving."

"What what?" Duo squawked. He trotted to catch up with the other boy, focusing on where he was going. "Dude, if I crashed your ride I'd _deserve _to crack my skull open on the pavement for sullying such a sexy machine."

Wufei scoffed to hide his mild, yet unexpected laughter, eyeing Duo sideways. "That would be the least of your worries if you crashed my bike. Believe me."

Duo grinned.

When they arrived at Heero's apartment building, Wufei turned to the braided boy. "Wait here. Unless you want to explain why I took a stranger in out of the blue and why we need to go to the library."

As a frown took his face, something in Duo's eyes shifted. "You're going to tell him eventually, right?" To this, Wufei nodded, looking sincere. "Alright. I'll wait down here."

When the Chinese boy ascended the steps to the second floor, Duo let his mind wander as he studied the area. Unconsciously, he edged out of the open and under the shade of a willow tree. It looked safe enough, but who knew what car or truck could hold someone looking for him? Anyone scanning the streets could run across him. He shuddered at the thought, unwilling to go back to that place. A hand came up to rub at one of the needle marks from the IV drip, feeling a small bruise. Duo sighed then, trying to think back to how he'd gotten there in the first place.

But nothing would come, and more he tried to force it, the more his head hurt. When it increased to a throb, he gave up. "I guess things will just keep coming back in bits and pieces," he mumbled. But really, he hadn't actually _remembered _anything. He'd discovered he could hotwire vehicles and drive a motorcycle quite well, but he didn't remember ever doing those things. He couldn't really recall anything, and only knew his own _name _because he'd read it off the chart. And speaking of that, what the hell did code orange mean? What in the world had they done to him there?

When Wufei came looking for him with a pair of keys in his hand, he found Duo with a somewhat pinched look on his face, staring at the trunk of the tree with enough potency to burn a hole in it. When he cleared his throat, Duo looked up and his face relaxed.

They arrived at the complex's parking lot and stopped in front of a forest green Jeep, to which Duo whistled in appreciation. "Your buddy has nice taste in wheels, too." Wufei held up a small remote attached to a keychain and pressed a button. The car let out a brief 'whoop' noise, signaling the deactivation of the alarm. They climbed inside, Wufei in the driver's seat, of course, and set off for the public library. The ride was quiet, as once again, they both let themselves drift. What if they didn't find anything? If no family or friends were found, Duo was prepared to make it easy on his generous host and get out of Wufei's hair.

But he really hoped there was _something_. Even a distant cousin to tell him who he was. That thought made his stomach clench. He would need someone to fill him in on his own life. But how would that be enough? Who knew his mind more intimately than Duo himself? And what if there was no one?

He frowned, trying to banish those thoughts. Worrying could come later, if there was a need for it.

When they got to the library, the two automatically began looking through various databases they hadn't had access to from Wufei's laptop. If there wasn't anything in public records, than maybe there would be something here. Fifteen minutes passed where they sifted through nonsense that held no importance or relevance. It was another ten before Duo thought of narrowing the search to newspaper articles.

And it yielded results.

"Hey," Duo stuttered, a grin forming on his face from finally discovering something. "Wufei, I found somethin', come look!" He scooted over so Wufei could squeeze in and then opened the search result. It brought up a digital copy of an old newspaper article, dated just over two years ago, which had a picture of Duo at the top. The article was from the local newspaper, and the headline read: **Tragic accident involves local teen.**

Duo and Wufei shared a disturbed look between them before turning to look at the screen again.

_Ask around the community and almost anyone could tell you about Duo Maxwell. He is a well known young man, described by those who know him as a ray of sunshine, no matter what. Late yesterday evening, witnesses realized in horror too late what was happening. The screech of tires filled the air just as Maxwell was crossing the street. An unmarked, white van careened around the corner and struck him with impressive force. The driver never stopped, witnesses said, and barely even swerved as he fled the scene._

_Cecilia Thomas, who was dining at an outside café mere feet from the accident, used her cell phone to call an ambulance to the scene. EMT staff arrived shortly after to find Duo Maxwell unconscious and in bad condition. Emergency treatment was given on scene before he was rushed to the hospital. He was reported this morning to be in serious but stable condition._

_A friend of his with whom he was staying with, requesting to remain unnamed, agreed to comment._

"_I just don't understand how this could happen," he stated in an emotional tone. He'd been sitting in the waiting room for hours. "As soon as I heard, I came down here to see if he was alright. They won't let me see him yet, hospital policy," he said sadly. "But as soon as he's released, I intend to see that he returns to full health."_

Duo stared at the screen for a long time, feeling a sickening sensation starting to form in the pit of his stomach. He'd been hit by a car? A van, even. Wait... a van. A white, unmarked van? His eyes widened suddenly with the realization. "Wufei!" he hissed, bringing the other boy out of his stupor. "A white van!"

The Chinese teen blinked in confusion for a few moments, before it dawned on him as well and his eyebrows drew together. "Do you think it was the same one that was chasing you last night?"

"It must have been!" Duo exclaimed, keeping his voice low for fear of attracting unwanted attention. "It's just too much for coincidence!"

Wufei stared hard at the article for another few moments, dark eyes scanning the words for any clues. Slowly, he spoke. "Wasn't there another search result other than this one?"

"Oh yeah," the braided boy said, moving the mouse to close the window. He then brought up the search page again, quickly zeroing in on the last link. When it opened, it was another news article, dated a few weeks after the first.

**Hit and Run Tragedy**

_News of the terrible accident has spread energetically, and well wishers and supporters have lent their prayers to a young boy. Local teen Duo Maxwell was rushed to intensive care on June 2__nd__ after being hit by a speeding vehicle. The driver of the van fled the scene, and police still have not found a trace of him, despite numerous callers offering descriptions of the vehicle and the driver himself._

_The seriously injured teenager had gone through hours of surgery upon his arrival, but was eventually determined to be in stable condition. His injuries continued to slowly improve, and it looked like he would make a full recovery. However, Duo Maxwell's health took an unexpected turn._

Duo suddenly found it very hard to breathe. All of the petty details around him dulled into an annoying hum, nothing more to his shell shocked mind than white noise. He vaguely heard Wufei's intake of breath beside him as the Chinese boy reached that critical sentence that had just tilted Duo's world upside down for the second time.

_He was pronounced dead at 6:25 a.m. of June 25__th__._

* * *

Uh oh. *bum bum bummm*

Okay. Update. Yaaay. Sorry to keep you guys waiting, and now I'll get right to work on Red Means Stop and the Sticky Note Affair. I have accepted that my computer will not be functional anytime soon, so I'll be stuck on the laptop until I can get my hands on a new motherboard. Which means I'll have to restart what I've written on those chapters. Fuuuu. Sulk.

And I just have to say, Duo, average looking guy? Please. That boy obviously doesn't know what average is, and he is anything _but. _

Nebelkind: Knowing me, most likely. xP

Graypheonix: I wouldn't know, I've never watched any of those movies. We'll see, huh? xD

Shogi: I actually did find one. I didn't look too deeply into it, though.

And to everyone else, thanks for the kind reviews. I hope this chapter makes up for the wait!


	3. The Rest, As They Say

Shadows Beneath

Chapter 3: The Rest, As They Say

* * *

"_There are some remedies worse than the disease."_

_-Publilius Syrus_

* * *

When Duo's vision came back into focus, he found himself to be walking, or stumbling, as it were, across the street towards Heero's Jeep. Wufei was on his left keeping a steady grip on his arm, probably the only thing that had kept Duo from falling on his face so far. He didn't even remember leaving the library. Once they were in the car, the brunette noticed an odd taste in his mouth. Bitter, metallic, and oddly grounding. His nose scrunched up a little.

"I taste blood," he said, unknowingly interrupting Wufei as he was about to speak. "I think I've bitten my tongue." When he turned to look at the other boy, Wufei was giving him an incredulous look, bordering on exasperation.

"You seem quite alright now that we're out of the library and I no longer have to drag you," he said, trying to keep the petulant accusation out of his voice.

"Sorry," Duo replied, still appearing way too calm and collect for what they'd just read. "I just kind of blanked out."

Wufei eyed him cautiously, as if waiting for some eruption. "You still seem to be... in shock..."

"Probably," the braided boy agreed, nodding.

Not but a second later, he started to slump forward, barely giving Wufei enough time to catch Duo before his forehead met the dashboard. The Chinese boy sighed and shook his head, using one hand to keep his passenger upright while he used the other to push a switch that made the seat lean back. With the risk of Duo falling forward eliminated, Wufei took a moment to stare at the steering wheel.

As if the whole thing weren't science fiction enough in the first place.

The black haired teen rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his palms, mind working furiously on what to do next. But first he had to actually hear it out loud for his brain to really process what was happening. "I've taken a dead person into my home..."

...

"...No big deal."

* * *

When Duo woke up, he wasn't sure how much time had elapsed, but it felt like it had been quite a while. He splayed out in a back-crackling stretch before rubbing his eyes. The brunette sat up, grunting when the sudden movement made his previously dull headache flare into a throbbing pound. When he looked around, he realized he was on the couch back in Wufei's apartment.

"Awake, are you?"

Duo turned to look over the back of the couch, spotting his host leaning in the entry of the hallway. "How long was I out?" he asked. "And how did I get back here?"

"Two hours, about," Wufei replied, looking at his watch to check. "And I brought you here."

Blushing, the braided teen sunk down a little. "You carried me up all those stairs? You didn't have to do that..."

"You wouldn't wake up," the Chinese boy said, not looking angry, but still a little peeved.

"I'm sorry," Duo apologized, looking contrite even though it had been something he couldn't control. "As you can imagine, it was a little bit of a shocker to find out that I'm... you know, _dead_." And then a thought struck the brunette, causing him to sit up straighter and give Wufei a perplexed look, his question coming out completely serious. "D'you think I'm a clone?"

Wufei took a moment to absorb the question, realizing the braided boy was not joking and actually expected a real answer. "No, you can't be a clone. This isn't a science fiction novel. Right now cloning is implanting DNA into an egg and that into a surrogate. If you'd been cloned at the time of your supposed 'death' you would be two years old at the most, and that's not even allowing the nine month gestation period."

Blinking, Duo folded his arms on the back of the couch and frowned. "Oh," he said simply, still twisted in what Wufei suspected had to be a very uncomfortable position. He took a moment to ponder what his host had said, head tilting just slightly in his contemplation. "I guess so," he concluded. "What about a zombie?"

The Chinese boy felt his eyes drift upward in exasperation. "You are not a zombie, as it is impossible to bring the dead back to life."

"Well," the brunette countered with a little pout, "What you do think?"

"There must have been some sort of mix up," Wufei reasoned, and even he had a hard time figuring out who he was really trying to convince. He _really _didn't want to think about conspiracy theories right now. Not ever. It was such an out-there idea that Wufei didn't even want to go near the topic. When he returned his gaze to Duo, the braided boy was facing away from him once more, hands folded in his lap as he stared at the floor. He seemed remorseful again.

"I should go," he said quietly.

Frowning, Wufei walked over to the chair opposite of Duo and sat down, trying to get a better look at his eyes. "What? Why?"

Duo finally looked up, an expression of discomfort on his face. "Well, I obviously have no family, so I don't want to cause problems by hanging around."

The Chinese stared at Duo for a long moment, who eventually began to look uncomfortable from the scrutiny. "You do realize," Wufei started, looking annoyed, "that your plan holds absolutely no sense at all? You don't have family, so you want to leave? You want to go back to wandering the streets with nothing more than your name and the knowledge that you supposedly 'died' two years ago?"

"Of course not!" Duo protested, looking confused and anxious. "I just don't want to be a bother to you anymore. It was really nice of you to help me, but I can't... I can't take advantage of your hospitality," he finished softly, looking away.

Now Wufei was starting to get a better idea of his guest's complex personality. He'd easily accepted help the other night because he hadn't expected to be in Wufei's hair for very long. Now that there was the possibility of no relatives for him to go to, Duo thought he would be causing more trouble than he was worth by staying for any span of time. Even if they hadn't discussed the issue of how long Duo would stay, Wufei definitely didn't feel like he'd given any impression of wanting to hurry the amnesiac out of his apartment. He sighed.

"Listen," Wufei said, garnering those blue eyes on him once more. "I can't just let you leave with how things are. You don't have any money, barely a possession to your name, no where to go, and on top of that winter is well on the way. I can't allow you to leave in good conscience."

Duo looked touched by the show of human compassion, which was quite frankly a rare thing to stumble upon, but still seemed too guilty to accept the offer. "I really shouldn't, I'd hate to be a free loader."

"You wouldn't have to be," Wufei countered. "Of course I couldn't support to both of us on my own, so you'd have to get a job, but otherwise I don't mind putting you up until you figure something out. My sister isn't coming back anytime soon, probably not at all, so you can stay in the spare room once I clear it out."

Duo's will to protest was visibly breaking. He knew that it was not sensible to leave when he was being offered a helping hand. Wufei had put it best himself, he had no money, no family, nothing. He just felt like he'd be too much trouble for someone he barely knew and held no obligation to share his home. The braided boy sighed. "Are you sure?"

Wufei nodded calmly, feeling he had won the debate. "I am sure. Will you be staying, then?"

Duo smiled, trying to make his appreciation known. "Okay. I really can't thank you enough for this. I'll try to get a job as soon as possible."

"Do you have any preference as to what kind of work you'd like to look for?"

The braided boy shook his head. "Nah, I'm not picky. Just something within walking distance."

"Alright," Wufei said. "We'll take care of that later. For now I'd like to get working on Meilan's room so we can get you in there by tonight."

"I can help," Duo offered. "That is if you don't mind me going through your sister's stuff..." he said, grinning cheekily.

The Chinese boy scoffed, gesturing for his guest to follow. "I don't care, just don't ever tell her I let you, or I will be forced to murder you before I'm devoured by the spawn of Satan."

Laughing, Duo followed after the other teen. They came to a closed door across from the bathroom and went inside. It didn't look like it had been lived in very long before the occupant moved out. The walls were bare of posters or decoration of any sort, save for a lonely bulletin board near the desk with a few scraps of paper tacked onto the cork surface. The bed was made with dark blue sheets and the dresser was a modestly plain piece of furniture. From what he knew of girls, Duo had expected at least a few stuffed animals on the bed, or purple bed sheets, but there was nothing to outwardly suggest a female had occupied the space.

Wufei pulled out some boxes from the closet to get started. They had been kept there since Meilan's room had the most storage. As the two started on the dresser of clothes, Duo brought up the topic that had him curious. "So what's the deal with your sis? Where'd she go?"

Feeling his neat freak tendency rear its head, Wufei refolded a pair of jeans before putting them in the box. "She flew out to Nevada about two weeks ago to scope out the campus of one of the universities she was accepted to. I just spoke with her on Thursday and she said she's decided to attend there."

"That's cool," Duo said, setting a stack of shorts into the box and pushing it off to the side once it was full. "I guess I should look into going to school eventually. Though I don't think I'll be financially able for a while. Isn't that stuff expensive?"

"Very," Wufei agreed. "It's probably best that you hold off on that until you build up some money. Even with scholarships, it can still be a hefty sum."

Duo's nose wrinkled at the thought and they fell into silence. Wufei was once again struck by how odd the situation was. Normally, he would have given any scum who touched his motorcycle a beating, but he'd been quite distracted by the mob of people rushing after a teenager in hospital garb. That had been his first clue that something was amiss. Even besides that, Duo had unintentionally gained Wufei's trust in a matter of minutes. The brunette had already had the bike hotwired and ready to go before Wufei reached him, so he could have just driven off instead of waiting around for the owner to get on. It hadn't been his intent to steal the motorcycle, he'd just needed a means to get away from his pursuers.

Also, Wufei didn't normally do "charity cases," as he was sometimes known to call it, but his damned conscience just wouldn't allow him to watch Duo walk away and not offer some help.

He was quite rudely broken out of his thoughts when they reached the top drawer, both of the boys freezing in place when it was opened. They stared at the contents for a long moment, neither saying anything. Duo was the first to move, giving Wufei a pat on the shoulder. "Dude, your sister, your job." And then he walked away to start on the things hanging in the closet, leaving Wufei with a look of extreme distaste and a drawer full of underwear and bras.

* * *

After the two had gotten everything packed up and cleared the bed to make it usable, Wufei suggested taking a walk through town for some job applications, an early dinner, and some necessities for Duo. They decided it would be best to get the brunette some clothing until he found a job. Neither were so keen on the idea of sharing clothes for very long, so Duo swore up and down to pay him back after his first paycheck.

The two wandered around town to scout the close businesses and gather applications. Conveniently, there was a wealth of places that would be close enough for Duo to walk to, and a good number of them were hiring. He ended up with applications from six places: a bookstore, a café, a sports store, a movie rental place, a daycare for children grades 1-8, and an organic grocery store. Duo didn't have hopes for anything more than that, considering he had no extended education or previous experience that he knew of. He'd wanted desperately to apply at the pet store when they wandered inside to look at all the animals. It had been like a light switch turning on, and Duo suddenly found out another tid bit about himself. He loved animals. Unfortunately, he'd found out that working with animals required one to be 18 or older, so considering the fact that even if he was old enough, he had no way to prove it, so that option went out the window.

After the job hunt, they found a place to sit down for dinner. It was a homey place that Wufei went to when he felt he had the extra cash. It was decorated in a reasonable manner, interesting without being cluttered, unlike the type of places that jammed their walls with photos and sports memorabilia. It wasn't fancy, more of a casual place for friends getting together or family outings. After the two were seated and placed their orders, Duo starting flipping through the applications, quickly running into various roadblocks.

"Crap," he said, frowning. "How am I supposed to fill these out? Education, previous experience, skills... Oh yeah, skills: I can hotwire motorcycles and spontaneously wake up without remembering jack. That's what businesses are looking for." His eyes quickly roamed over the paper, bringing up another topic before Wufei could reply. "Are you required to fill out your social security number on these? As far as I know I don't have one of those."

Wufei shrugged. "I don't think so. There are some businesses that accept applications online, and they won't process to be read if you don't fill out the social security number, but I don't think it's required otherwise."

Sighing, the brunette continued to skim through the stack of applications. "I guess I'll have to bullshit these. I'll assume I graduated high school. Can I put you down as a reference?"

"Of course," the Chinese boy replied, smirking. "I'll tell them all about your amazing qualities that I know so much about."

"Ha ha," Duo replied sarcastically, but in good humor. "Got a pen on you?"

While they waited for their food, Duo worked on the applications, filling out honestly what he knew and bullshitting the rest. At least he could put down an actual address for his residence, and... He blanched, looking up with something akin to panic for the first time since he'd gotten out of the 'hospital.' "Oh my god, Wufei, what state are we in? That is so fucking messed up that I even have to ask that."

Wufei blinked in surprise, just as unnerved from the question as Duo. It was the first time he'd witnessed any sort of distress over the situation from his guest. Sure, he'd been panicked and tense when those doctors were closing in on him, but otherwise the whole memory loss hadn't appeared to bother him as much as it should. "Er, California," he finally replied, also relaying the zip code, address, apartment and phone numbers, and the city they were in. Duo filled these all in with a pinched look on his face, and Wufei could tell something was bubbling just below the surface.

With perfect timing, their waitress appeared with the food, causing Duo to push the papers aside and relax a little. Despite the change in demeanor, Wufei could tell that wouldn't be the end of whatever monster had popped up in Duo's mind. For the time being, however, he was grateful for the tension leaving, his guest seemingly back to normal by the time he'd unwrapped his silverware from the napkin. They shared light chatter over the food to get to know one another, mostly at Duo's insistence, since they would be living together for an indefinite amount of time. It was mostly things like 'what do you like to do for fun,' and 'what classes are you taking,' from Duo, but Wufei found one thing kept nagging at his mind. Usually he didn't give into his curiosity, but he wanted to know.

"What exactly happened when you first woke up?"

Duo stared at him for a moment, not looking angry, but curious and a bit surprised. He ate a French fry and wiped his fingers on a napkin before responding. "Well, the first thing I saw was the white ceiling above me, and for some reason that got alarm bells. The next thing I saw was the nurse looking at me as if I was a monster, and then she ran out of the room, yelling for a doctor." His nose wrinkled in distaste. "That was my first clue that I wasn't in any hospital. So I got out of the bed and picked up the chart that she had dropped. All I had time to read was that my name is Duo, I'm 17 and my status was 'code orange.' Don't ask, cause I don't know."

"In retrospect," the brunette continued, looking annoyed, "I wish I'd had the brain cells to take the whole chart with me, so maybe I could have figured out what the hell they were doing to me there. But the nurse came back in. I was so distracted by how pissed off I felt that she wouldn't tell me where I was, that I didn't even think about it before I left the room. I found a storage area, hoping to find a set of clothes that weren't made of paper, but instead I found these bins. One was labeled with my name, and that's where I found my stuff. Just as I did, an alarm went off and I high tailed it out of there. The parking garage looked like a good place to possibly hide, but then I saw your bike. The rest is history," he shrugged, eating another few French fries.

Wufei frowned, realizing what Duo had meant by describing the place as feeling 'wrong.' The nurse should have been asking questions when he woke up, not running from the room like he was about to go nuclear. That was not the conduct for any real hospital. Now the question was what the hell was that building hiding? He could definitely find out what they were pretending to be, but beyond that was hazy. "When we get home, we'll find out what that place is using for cover, because whatever they're really doing there, it would be frowned upon if local authorities were wise."

"Yeah," Duo agreed, frowning as he stirred a French fry through the ketchup on his plate. There was something else that was scrabbling for attention, something he felt should be obvious, but he just couldn't pinpoint it. It made him frustrated that he was missing a key piece of the puzzle, yet was so close to it. He allowed himself to come back to the here and now when Wufei brought up the topic of clothes. They finished up their dinner and paid the bill before heading out. It had been dark out for about an hour and was starting to get chilly, so they both zipped up their sweaters to keep the cold out.

As the two were walking down the street looking for a place to find clothing, Duo suddenly stopped to a halt, staring into the storefront. "Wait," he said to Wufei, who'd stopped to look at him in confusion. Duo felt something stir in his mind when he looked at the shop, and he knew he should be going in. "Here, this is the place."

Wufei, removing his hands from his pockets, backtracked and stood next to Duo. He looked up at the sign and then through the front window, looking unimpressed. "A thrift store?"

"Yeah, why not?" Duo grinned, grabbing Wufei's hand and pulling him towards the door. "It's cheap." He proceeded to drag the other boy inside.

As they entered, an employee at the register greeted them, looking curious. It was a moment later that Wufei realized the woman was staring at their still linked hands. Duo obliviously released him and wandered off on his own. The Chinese boy blushed and leveled a glare at the woman, who hurriedly went back to her magazine, trying not to look up. Wufei grumbled something under his breath and decided to look around as well. It _was_ cheap, he realized while looking at the prices, and most of the clothing was in very nice condition. He saw a pair of almost new jeans for four dollars and wondered why he had never come here. He usually shopped for clothes at cheaper stores, but he'd never known thrift stores provided such a good deal. _Looks like I know where to go next time I need clothes._

He met up with Duo in one of the aisles further back, finding him looking through sweaters and jackets. "Are you going to try those on?" he asked, gesturing towards the pile of shirts and pants the brunette held slung over one arm.

"Yeah, in good time," Duo replied, humming under his breath as he pulled out a faded, navy green cotton jacket.

"You should get that," Wufei said. "It gets fairly cold here."

"Shoes!" the braided boy suddenly chirped, throwing the jacket over his arm and bouncing away towards the footwear. Wufei found himself cracking a smile at his new house-mate's antics, following after Duo.

After trying on his clothes, making a few swaps, and Wufei paying for his things, Duo ended up with two pairs of jeans, one black, one blue, a pair of khaki cargo pants, four t-shirts, a sweater and a jacket, and a pair of black sneakers. While Duo was fussing with the bag on the way out, Wufei looked over his shoulder at the employee and caught her staring again. She made a kind of squeak and quickly hid her face behind the magazine. The Chinese boy smirked in triumph and followed Duo out. Finally, they made one last quick stop at a department store for a few more necessities. Into the shopping basket went a toothbrush, socks, some anti-tangle rubber bands for Duo's hair, and deodorant. Next, they ended up in the underwear aisle.

Before Wufei could really think about what he was about to say, he asked, "Boxers or briefs?" He immediately blushed, feeling like an idiot.

Thankfully, Duo was painfully oblivious to the other teen's embarrassment, humming in thought while he contemplated his options. "Briefs are so uncool," he decided, grabbing a package of boxers with a silly grin on his face. They paid for the last purchase of the night and headed for home, glad when they finally got inside and out of the cold.

Wufei set down the bag of thrift store clothes and wrinkled his nose, catching a whiff from the contents. "You're not wearing any of this until they're washed. They smell."

Duo chuckled and left to put everything but the bag of clothes in his room. After his few possessions had been put away, he took a moment to flop backwards onto the bed with a sigh. _What a day, _he thought, wiped out. He took the few moments of silence to let his mind wander, going back to the first news article. "A car crash..." he murmured softly, rubbing his head without realizing it. They said he'd been in surgery, so what would have required that? Internal bleeding? Something ruptured? He let out a little breath and sat up, pulling up his shirt to inspect for any scars. He found a large one on his side, a jagged line of skin that was lighter than the rest. Duo stared at this for a few moments before lying back on the bed. He kept one hand on the scar, absent-mindedly running a finger over the long healed wound.

He stayed like this for a few more minutes until something hit him, well, like a van, if you'll ignore the pun. He shot straight up on the bed, eyes wide. "That's it!" he exclaimed, scrambling off the mattress and hightailing it out of the room. He found Wufei on the couch, reading a newspaper. "It's so obvious!" he crowed, throwing himself into the arm chair across the coffee table from his friend. The Chinese boy looked up in surprise, a questioning look on his face. "I figured it out, Wufei!" Duo exclaimed, looking excited and angry at the same time. "I don't know how I didn't see it before, but it came to me!"

"We already know that car accident was not an accident, but my death was _faked!_"

* * *

Wow, I had been kinda slugging along on this chapter, but all of the sudden something clicked and I just breezed through the rest. Hope this one wasn't too boring with the shopping and junk, but I thought it was a good place to establish a few more points of the plot. And now I must shuffle to class! *runs*


	4. In Which the Compass Spins

Shadows Beneath

Chapter 4: Free Fall

* * *

"_He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it."_

_-Douglas Adams_

* * *

Wufei stared at Duo for a long moment, unsure if he was supposed to be as excited as his new house-mate was. Finally, he decided the best course of action. "Yes," he said slowly, lowering the newspaper. "I thought we already gathered that. Seeing as you're alive and all."

Duo sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "Well _duh. _Sheesh, that's not what I meant. Don't you see it? All that was part of something more! First that van hit me on purpose, and then I supposedly 'die' in the hospital," he explained, using his fingers to air quote the word. "But I'm obviously not dead! Now, here's the kicker, so listen close. If everyone thought I was dead, then who would it benefit if no one would look for me upon disappearing?"

Wufei's eyebrows knitted together, understanding where Duo had been going with the outburst of revelation. "The facility where you were being held..."

"Exactly," Duo said triumphantly, already putting together the rest of the puzzle. "So the hit-and-run was just setting up the chess pieces. Whoever's behind all this gave it a little time to look convincing and then staged my death so there wouldn't be any bother with me 'disappearing.' That way, no one would look for me and they would have a test subject for whatever they were doing!"

"But that's the question," Wufei mused quietly, brow furrowed in thought. "What _were _they doing and how did they get you out of the hospital?"

Duo paused in thought, understanding the new thread his roommate had picked up. "That's right. If they had me, then where was the body for the funeral?" he said slowly.

That was a disturbing thought, and they spent several long minutes mulling it over. Duo's death had been faked so someone could get their hands on him as a guinea pig, that was clear, but wouldn't someone have noticed a body going missing from the morgue? And _surely _that body would be missed if there were any kind of funeral service. So how had the tricky bastards managed to make off with an unconscious Duo Maxwell? With each new answer brought to light it seemed like even more questions popped up around it. From what Duo could tell he didn't have any family, but that news article mentioned a concerned friend. "So what the hell?" he mumbled softly to himself, going over and over the possibilities in his head. A notion rather sinister and underhanded came to him then. "Wufei... do you think there _was _a funeral and they just kinda... plucked me from the casket before it was buried?"

The Chinese boy stared hard at the forgotten newspaper for a long moment, taking no notice of the words or pictures. "That's the only feasible possibility I can think of... otherwise _someone _would have to notice a body disappearing from the morgue."

It _was _the only thing that seemed to fit into this whole messed up puzzle. There would have been some other article about a teenage boy dying in the hospital and then vanishing into thin air before the funeral service. Well, that was assuming he'd had a funeral, but that still came back to the problem of one less corpse in the hospital freezer. Duo blinked in surprise when yet another hitch came up. "Don't they usually do an autopsy? Or is that just for murders and stuff?"

"Well... they're typically done in a case of unknown cause of death or if it's related to criminal matters..." Wufei mused. "I'm not sure if they would just chalk up your death to the hit and run. In the article it did say you were improving up until you supposedly took a turn for the worse. That might warrant an autopsy."

"It does sound suspicious," Duo said, nose wrinkling in distaste. "But how in the first place did they make it look like I was actually belly up? Any moron can check for a pulse, let alone trained doctors."

"That I don't know," the Chinese boy sighed. "It seems like an awful lot of trouble for one test subject. And I don't mean to sound insensitive, but they could probably have picked up a homeless person of the street and no one would notice. It just seems like they went to a lot of bother when they could have found multiple easier ways to find a lab rat," Wufei said in confusion.

"There's something so fishy in all this!" Duo erupted. He hunched over and rested his chin on one fist, eyes steely and calculating. "Who are these guys? How is it that I can't remember anything about myself but I still have all this basic knowledge? How the fuck did they get their hands on me and no one noticed? Or was I just that unimportant that they could just snatch me up and no one would care? This whole situation is completely and utterly bogus!" he growled, shooting up from the armchair and storming into the kitchen to cool down and get a hold on his frustration.

Wufei watched him with furrowed eyebrows, unsure of how one should go about in this type of situation. He pondered going after the other boy and trying to calm him down, but he decided to just let Duo be and cool off on his own and come back when he was ready. Whenever Wufei got upset or angry, he was never pleased when someone tried to comfort or calm him. In that state he just wanted to be alone without someone fawning over him in an attempt to help. He wasn't sure if Duo was the same way, but he figured he'd let it be and offer his hand at helping when the brunette came back on his own.

In the kitchen, Duo sighed heavily and rested his forehead on the cooling surface of the refrigerator door, out of Wufei's sight. The whole thing was just so frustrating! And it was doubly grating on his mind now, because he'd started thinking about an unappealing possibility. What if no one had cared to notice that he was gone? The article in the paper had been all weepy and sad about him, saying how all the people in the neighborhood knew and liked him, but what about real friends and family? It seemed ridiculous to think that facility would go to such preposterous lengths to get their hands on him, and was entirely more realistic to think no one had really given a damn. How else could a body go missing without an elaborate scheme worthy of some corny science fiction novel?

The braided boy growled in anger and gently bumped his forehead against the fridge, trying to clear away the annoying thoughts with a good jarring of his skull. As if that ever helped anything, he thought with a snort. He would just have to chalk it up to a loss and move on. Going to the authorities would just make him look crazy and then they'd toss him in the insane asylum.

After a good five or ten minutes of mulling and silent cursing, Duo finally straightened and headed back out into the living room. Wufei's eyes found his own upon his entrance, questioning. "Are you alright?"

Duo walked over and flopped back into the armchair, resting his chin on his hand with a sigh. "Yeah, I'm done with my melt down."

The Chinese boy was silent for a moment before venturing what had been on his mind in the elapsed time of Duo's retreat. "What do you want to do?"

The brunette blinked in surprise. "What do I want to do? What _can _I do? I'll just get a job like we planned and sweep this whole mess under the rug. I ain't going near that place again, and they don't know where I am, so let's just let it be."

* * *

Several weeks passed in relative quiet, the lives of the two boys settling into something normal. Wufei had started to warm up to Duo as a person and as a friend, making the shared household more comfortable. The braided boy had gotten a job at the organic food market. He'd been working there for two weeks, not including the days of training, and his first paycheck would be coming in soon.

That made Duo feel very proud, considering they'd been willing to hire him at all. He was currently walking down the street towards home, having completed his ninth official day of work. It was a peaceful night, and the chill wind wasn't much of a bother because he had his nice warm jacket to keep it at bay. The relative quiet went on for about a block before Duo saw the street start to glow from approaching headlights. This was not at all unusual, it was a busy road day or night, but a huge chill ran up the brunette's spine. Something felt wrong. He ignored the sensation and walked a little faster.

The car didn't sound like it was going very fast, until a sudden screech marked the increased speed. Duo whipped his head around and saw something that had been plaguing his nightmares lately.

The white van.

"_Fuck_!" he cursed, immediately taking off in a dead run. He heard the engine behind him roar and take chase, cementing in his mind that he was an unlucky son of a bitch that someone wasn't done toying with yet. When he reached the end of the street, he took a left instead of going straight. There was no point in leading them to the apartment, so he released himself to the instinct that had suddenly taken over. The urge had him ducking, dodging and running for over ten minutes, how the fox might desperately evade the hunter.

When the van managed to pull up beside him, Duo saw the sliding door open and he panicked, lunging sideways into the opening of an alleyway. It was too narrow for the vehicle, but he didn't even allow a pause to sigh in relief, merely running on to put the distance between him and his pursuers. His breathing was becoming only slightly labored, but the cold air was burning in his lungs from being taken in such large and quick quantities. He only stopped briefly at the other end of the passage to make sure the van was no where in sight before ducking into the shadows. Directly in front of him, across the street, was a six foot brick wall, shielding what looked to be a park just beyond. Duo kicked up his pace and dashed across the street, hurdling up and over the wall with one jump and well placed hands.

He landed on the other side with barely a sound, his sneakers touching down on soft grass. The area was pitch black almost, with only a few lonely streetlights casting ghostly light from time to time. He could tell that it was definitely a park, which made him feel better. He would have felt a bit guilty popping into someone's backyard. The brunette stood up slowly, keeping his breath absolutely quiet. He almost jumped when he heard the screech of tires on the other side of the wall a few moments later, and the roar of an engine fading into the night.

Sighing, Duo leaned against a nearby tree for about five or ten minutes to build the distance of his misled pursuers. Getting back over the wall was a little harder the second time around without the advantage of momentum, but he managed with the help of a tree that was close enough to give him an extra boost. The next issue was trying to retrace his steps, seeing as he still wasn't too familiar with the area and street names. His random running and darting had proved to be a little troublesome since he hadn't bothered to look at street signs while running from some crazy freaks. About ten minutes into this wandering, when he thought he might have taken a wrong turn, he heard the familiar whining rumble of a small engine. He was not disappointed, as a moment later Wufei appeared around the corner on his motorcycle. The vehicle came to a stop next to him, its owner removing his helmet. "Where've you been?" Wufei asked, irritated. "You've been off work for an hour and I thought something happened."

Duo laughed, the sound coming out oddly shaky from the aftermath of his adrenaline rush. "Something _did _happen, you just missed the good part. Car chases are a lot less fun without your bike."

"Car chase?" Wufei asked, looking shocked.

"Yeah, my buddy the Friendly White Van made an appearance. Speaking of which, we shouldn't be out in the open."

The Chinese boy suddenly looked around the area stiffly, mumbling distractedly in agreement. He turned back to Duo and held out the helmet with a look that booked no room for argument. "Put this on."

The brunette did not protest. He just wanted to get inside the safety of his home and get something to eat. He put on the helmet and hopped onto the back of the motorcycle, wrapping his arms around Wufei's waist as the vehicle took off. Thank goodness the other boy had shown up when he did, otherwise he'd be wandering around trying to find his way back, and who knew if the van would make a second appearance tonight. Nothing jumped out to hinder them on the way home, even though kept expecting to see the van emerge around some corner for another round. When they arrived in the parking lot of the apartment complex without incident, Duo slid off the bike and found himself a little wobbly. Apparently he was a little more shaken up than he'd thought, and the adrenaline only wore off once Wufei showed up.

"Maybe you should come with me to class tomorrow," the Chinese boy said, pushing his bike up onto the stand. "I really don't think it'd be safe for you to stay in the apartment alone until work, and they must be keeping tabs on this neighborhood."

"Are you allowed to do that?" Duo asked as they headed up the stairs, carrying the helmet in his arms. "Bring some random person to your classes?"

"It will only be for a day or two, just to be safe. Besides, my professors are fairly reasonable," the black haired teen replied, unlocking the door when they arrived in front of it. He entered and turned on the light after Duo had followed him in. "One of the students even brought in their younger sibling because he had to baby sit."

"Alright, I'll tag along," Duo replied. He took off his jacket and set it over the back of the couch before plopping down, letting out a relieved sigh.

Wufei joined him, looking concerned. "Are you alright?"

The brunette smiled, looking at his roommate from an odd angle since his head was laid back against the couch. "I'm fine. Ran a hell of a lot and went Spiderman on a brick wall, but the thing that got me was the fact that I was on foot and it was definitely not fun this time." His eyes trailed up to the ceiling, clearly picturing the event before his eyes. "Scared the shit out of me when the van pulled up next to me in mid-run." He then let out a yawn, sitting up straight. "Think I'm gonna turn in early, I'm pooped."

"No dinner?" Wufei asked skeptically, one eyebrow raised.

"Well," the brunette relented, grinning widely at his only friend. "Maybe a little."

* * *

The next day, Duo tagged along with Wufei to his college campus. They fought for a little while in the morning over who would wear the helmet, but Duo finally relented under the pressure of the 'you're going to make me late' card Wufei had dealt. He put on the helmet, promising silently to make his friend wear it on the way home.

When they arrived at the campus, Duo observed the area and the people bustling around with great interest. However, he became aware of a painful ache in his chest, quickly realizing that it was no injury, but it was still very real. The absolute normality of the scene made him ache to have his lost memories. If he was 17, then he should still be in high school, so Duo tried to recall any sense of familiarity in the idea of going from class to class, talking with friends and worrying about homework. Nothing stirred, which made it all the more painful.

They arrived at Wufei's first lecture room soon after, asking the professor for permission to have Duo sit in. The older man agreed easily enough and they were on their way up the rows of seats. With about five minutes until the lecture would start, most of the class was chatting idly about various topics, one of which was audible to Duo and Wufei.

"Who's the new guy talking to the teacher?" one of the guys behind them asked.

At first, Duo thought they were talking about him, but he was definitely not down at the bottom talking to the professor, so he looked to see who was. There was a young man standing in front of the podium and talking to the teacher, who had a kind smile on his face while addressing the boy.

"That's his kid," another student replied. "I heard about him yesterday, he was staying with his sisters for a while, apparently on a family matter. He just moved back here recently and got an add code for this class because it's his dad teaching."

"Otherwise impossible," the first one said in a sulky voice. "Only managed to get in this late because of his father."

Duo zoned out as the talk turned to that of the unfairness of late additions, but kept one ear trained on the conversation as he watched the new student find a seat near the front of the room. His quiet thoughts were interrupted when the lecture started. The professor stood at the front of the room, his posture and strong demeanor commanding attention from his students as he talked and illustrated his lesson on the board. Duo, although not technically a student, found more interest in what was being taught than most of the officially enrolled that had chosen the class. For someone missing their personal memories, it was an interesting experience. What kind of things had he been learning before he'd 'died?' Upon quiet persistence and miming, Duo managed to make his request clear enough for Wufei to give him a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. The brunette immediately copied down one of the math problems from his roommate's textbook, trying for the hell of it to solve the complicated statistics problem.

He ended up failing miserably.

Wufei noticed the frustration, though seemingly uncomprehending as to why Duo would want to even attempt the stuff. He ended up sliding the book over a tapping quietly on the text that explained the formula he would need to solve the equation. Duo tuned out the teacher and read through the example problems, finding his grasp on the concept becoming clearer and more concrete with every word. That was how he ended up spending Wufei's class time, by working on problems out of the book and learning from trial and error until he eventually got one right just as the lecture ended. Wufei was pleasantly surprised at Duo's aptitude for picking up the material on his own, when he had expected the brunette to be uninterested and busy doodling. He gathered up his things and they made their way down to exit the room

The rest of the day went on much in the same fashion, with Duo keeping an ear open during Wufei's classes in an attempt to soak up some information. It seemed, in some odd sense, a way for him to try to bring up lost thoughts. If any of this stuff was even vaguely familiar, then shouldn't it trigger memories of school? Of learning and reading? He felt sure that something was off, as if there should be some stirring of his mind to remember a familiar situation of classrooms, books and teachers. He didn't even try to force it, hoping something would trigger on its own, but Duo continued to quietly bemoan the lack of his memories. The entire calamity just seemed like a big puppet show to amuse the universe at his expense.

At the end of the day, Wufei and Duo headed for the parking lot where their transport waited. On the way down the hall, however, Duo spotted a drinking fountain and suddenly became aware of how thirsty he was. "Hey, hang on a sec," he said to Wufei, who paused near the brunette patiently while he deviated for a drink of water. Behind him, he heard footsteps and a polite, gentle voice address the Chinese boy.

"Excuse me," the newcomer said just as Duo finished and walked back over. He recognized the blondie as the math teacher's son, who had been the topic of focus for the two students sitting behind him. "I was just wondering if you could point me towards the book store."

"Sure," Wufei replied, but as he was explaining the directions, the stranger's eyes drifted over towards the brunette and did a double take.

"Duo?" the blonde exclaimed, looking as if he'd seen a ghost. The braided teen's eyes widened in surprise, unable to form any words as the blonde stuttered around his own. "I- but you- you're... oh my..."

Wufei barely had time to catch the blonde when he swayed and fell, saving him from a nasty meeting with the floor. The empty hallway lay silent for a long moment, an apparent stranger slumped in Wufei's arms, and Duo staring at the boy in confusion.

"Uhhh I think he knows me..." the brunette finally ventured to suggest, looking quizzical.

* * *

Ahaaaa, look who makes an appearance. I'm sorry this took so long! Really I am! I got into other things for a while and my creativity for GW suffered as a result. But I'm kinda getting back into the swing of things here.


	5. When it Comes in Static

Shadows Beneath

Chapter 5: When It Comes in Static

* * *

"_Turn the dial, wade through the masses, but insanity comes through on all stations."_

_-EbonyOsmosis_

* * *

Duo stared at the young man who had recognized him, wishing fervently for him to wake up and explain this whole mess to him. Or at least part of it. He was so close now, with someone from his fuzzy past that could tell him who he was, where he came from, and why the hell no one had noticed his body missing at the funeral. If this kid was a friend of his, he should have some very detailed information about the blanks in his head.

Wufei stood near him silently, arms crossed over his chest as he watched the nurse buzz around, checking the blonde's temperature and pulse even though she had already done so several minutes before. The infirmary of his university never saw much action apparently, making this simple cause of a fainted student a big deal to the staff. They finally got to stretch their legs and do something somewhat medical in nature, even if it was keeping a sleeping blonde on the uncomfortable bed and putting a cold washcloth on his forehead. Poor nurse.

Duo's thoughts had since shifted from the opportunity to learn about himself to an odd feeling in the back of his skull. It was kind of buzzy and warm, and the more he stared at the blonde kid and thought about this whole mess that had started back up the day before, the more it increased. The feeling was starting to make him nauseous and his eyes started to ache before long, just before a dizzy feeling of pressure in his head took over. It felt like there was trapped air in his skull trying to push out, and it was starting to hurt. In the interest of not repeating the action of his blonde friend and passing out, Duo refrained from moving or talking or even shifting his eyes. Instead, he closed them, reveling in the slight reprieve darkness granted. It didn't last long, though, as the blackness behind his eyelids started to lighten into gray tones, steadily increasing until it was a hot white curtain, burning. Then he felt the buzzy feeling increase as it turned into a kind of static, filling his ears and blocking out the sound of Wufei asking if he was alright.

The static fuzz completely took over his hearing and limited vision, sounding like a bad radio reception but feeling like his head was trying to explode. And then as if the needle had found a somewhat better reception, bits and pieces of sentences came in over the static haze.

_Sector 7...closed access...patient's record...injection site..._

_What? _he thought hazily, feeling the nausea increase and the thundering in his head pitch to a crescendo.

_Synthesis should take affect...slowly enter his blood through diffusion...changes complete..._

And just like that, his eyes flew open and everything flew out of existence all at once, leaving Duo with the all-too-loud silence of the university's infirmary and feeling as if the horrible sensations had never occurred. A cold clarity seemed to wash over his body like a fever leaving his skin, and he blinked.

"Duo, answer me!"

He turned to look at Wufei, who seemed relieved that he'd finally snapped out of his daze. "What happened? Are you alright?" the Chinese boy asked, and it was probably the fifth or sixth time he'd asked. Duo wasn't sure how long he'd been out.

"I think my brain just got hijacked," he said in a calm voice, looking around the infirmary curiously, noting that the blonde was still out and only sixty seconds had passed on the clock hanging over the bed.

Wufei frowned, trying to dissect the statement and how he should take it. "Are you being serious?"

"Totally," the brunette mumbled warily. His backtracked furiously in an attempt to recall what had come in over the static radio of his mind, replaying them over until he'd pinpointed the exact words and phrases. And then, slowly, Duo realized something.

He was remembering.

He relayed as much to Wufei, recounting the entire experience from the creeping warmth all the way to the sudden washing away of every sound, every sensation, as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head and had flushed away all of those out of place occurrences. The more Duo thought about it, the experience kind of reminded him of being near sleep, when brain noise was swirling and mixing and commingling, until some outside sound brought the mind back to full awareness and it all shut off at once. Only this had been painful, physically sickening, instead of relaxing and lazy.

Wufei took this all in with a frown, visually agreeing with Duo's feelings on the subject. However, before he could say anything, a little squeak of surprise behind the two caught their attention. The blonde had woken up and was staring at Duo with a look of shock, like he was seeing someone risen from the dead. And really, to someone who had been made to believe Duo had died, that's exactly what the blonde was seeing. The braided boy blinked slowly, wondering where to start. "Um, hi," he said uncertainly. "I imagine this must be a little weird for you-"

"A little?" the blonde squeaked, eyebrow drawing upward at finally hearing his supposedly dead friend's voice. "Oh no, not at all..."

"Heeey," Duo said slowly, pursing his lips. "Don't get like that. This hasn't exactly been fun for me either. I'm sure you're a very nice person, but you're not being-"

"You're sure I'm a nice person?" the blonde interrupted again, looking utterly perplexed and ignoring the vexed look on Duo's face for being cut off a second time. "What do you mean? You know me!"

"Yes, hello, hi there," Wufei interjected patiently, garnering the blonde's attention. "Didn't we mention? He has amnesia," the Chinese boy said flatly, pointing towards the brunette with his thumb. The blonde boy proceeded to look back and forth between the two, looking more and more distressed by the second.

"Uh, hey, please don't pass out again," Duo said cautiously.

Whatever the blonde was about to say next was put on hold when the nurse came back in, realizing her patient was awake. The sheepish blonde fended her off expertly, insisting he was fine and he was just low on blood sugar since he hadn't eaten that day. He managed to escape with a stern lecture about eating properly and taking care of himself, and soon enough all three of them were outside the infirmary and in the relative stillness of the outside grounds. It was a popular class time so there were hardly any students milling about, leaving the campus still and silent for the most part. They took up residence at a small café style table, and a battle ensued over whom would grill whom first. Duo won the first round, wheedling the first bit of information in the form of a name.

"This feels so weird introducing myself again," the blonde mumbled, still looking a bit distressed. "I'm Quatre Winner, and we're best friends."

Now Duo felt an odd pang in his chest, because as much as he'd like to, he couldn't immediately accept that. He had no doubt that they were friends, but here and now, he couldn't just rule out Wufei. He refrained from mentioning this to Quatre to avoid hurting his feelings, but deftly sidestepped the subject by introducing the Chinese boy. "Nice to, er... meet you. This is Wufei Chang, he's my roommate and has been helping me since I woke up."

"Woke up?" Quatre repeated, confused.

"Uhhhooohhh boy it sure is a long story," Duo sighed in defeat. He supposed they wouldn't get anywhere until Quatre knew the whole story and didn't have to constantly interject to clarify something that made no sense to him. So he started from the very beginning, from waking up the odd pseudo-hospital, to stealing Wufei's motorcycle, to the car chase, to Wufei taking him in, to their search for any family and the discovery of his 'death,' to his search for a job and adopting a sort of normal life, all the way to his second encounter with the Friendly White Van. "And so Wu thought it would be a good idea to bring me here until I had to go in for work so I wouldn't be alone back home, then we ran into you, and well, the rest is history," Duo finished, feeling like he had summed up the events of a science fiction or mystery novel. He thought to himself, _That really tells you something when your own life sounds like a cheesy story._

Quatre sat back, seemingly having a hard time observing all of this at once and trying to make sense of it. But before long, Duo just couldn't hold back the question burning on the tip of his tongue. "So, Quatre, what happened at my funeral?" he asked, leaning forward a little in his need to know. "_Was _there a funeral, even?"

"Of course there was," the blonde replied, looking a little affronted. "I provided the best services for your burial that I could find and many people came, all your close friends and the people who admired and respected you."

"And my family?" Duo asked slowly, looking like he didn't want to know the answer.

Quatre shook his head. "I'm afraid you don't currently have nor ever had any living relatives. Not that you or I have ever known of, anyway."

The brunette looked sullen, slumping down just a little. "I figured. So where did I...?"

"You lived with me," Quatre continued. "You had a nice job at a bookstore in the downtown area and a group of very close friends. And as for the funeral, there was nothing suspicious as far as anyone could tell, besides how you 'died' in the first place since you had been improving. But it was an open casket service, so I don't see how anyone could have 'stolen' you," he said skeptically. He took a moment to think, going over the fuzzy details of the funeral from two years previous. "Unless... there was one point where the casket was lowered in and we all returned to the funeral parlor. I think there might have been a large enough gap in time between that and the burial..."

Duo sighed in exasperation, running fingers through his hair. "For the love of all that's sacred, you'd think they'd have just picked me up off the street the first time the van hit me and be done with it a long time ago! What a fucking roller coaster!" His hand automatically reached up to cover the cross hanging under his shirt, a reflexive action that he'd taken to when stressed or nervous. Only when he felt the imprint of the object under the fabric of his shirt did he think of something. "Quatre," he said with renewed enthusiasm, pulling the pendent out. "What's the story behind this, do you know?"

Upon his eyes landing on the cross, Quatre acquired a look that was a mixture of hesitance and sadness. "Um, well it's a little personal for you. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to hear it when you're still recovering memories."

"No, I _need _to know," Duo said seriously, absolutely set in his decision. "As cheesy and soap opera as the concept of amnesia is, it fucking sucks. You have my memories and I'm not going to puss out because it might be icky to hear. So don't worry about me."

Wufei and Quatre shared hesitant looks, but the blonde nodded slowly. "Well, alright. I don't have all the details because it's something you told me in clipped description, but I'll put it together as best I can. Like I mentioned earlier, since you've never had any family you were in an orphanage when you were young. Probably around five or six, I'm not sure because you weren't." The look on Duo's face was a bit strained as he mulled this over in his head, but he looked okay so Quatre continued. "It was a little one run by a church, but they took very good care of the children. It was a very poor area though, so of course times were hard. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen ran the church, and you told me they became like parents to you."

Duo felt his throat tighten as shadowy images of faces appeared in his mind's eye. Wufei noticed the look on his face and spoke up during the pause. "Maybe we should stop..."

"No," Duo whispered, staring transfixed at an uncomfortable looking Quatre. "Keep going. What happened?"

"Well..." Quatre started slowly, looking like he'd rather be doing anything than recounting the story he'd been asked to tell. However, he couldn't deny those eyes, the eyes of his best friend who was in fact alive. Had been alive for the past two years and held in some experimental facility. He took a breath. "You were there for a little while, maybe two years, and-"

"Two years?" Duo whispered, eyebrows furrowing. "Did no one want me?"

Quatre felt his throat tighten, and from the corner of his eye he saw Wufei looking like he didn't like this much either. "Well, you told me you had been a 'hellion,' to quote your words, at that age. You said the orphanage had been a place of comfort for you, so you had no interest in going home with anyone. That didn't keep it from hurting when so many couples looking to adopt passed you up," he said softly, remembering the look of pain and bitterness when Duo had originally told him the story so many years ago. He waited a moment, and the brunette seemed to accept this and he nodded a little, gesturing for Quatre to continue.

"So a little over two years passed, when some kids came into the church late at night..." He could tell his audience didn't like where the story was going, but he continued. "They were messing around up at the pew, playing with the Father's bible and ripping out pages, you told me. You were only seven and they were all much older than you, but you were enraged. You tried to get them to leave, but they just ended up picking on you instead and pushing you around. One of them pushed you hard enough to knock you over, and you fell against a pedestal holding about a dozen lit candles..."

"They caught some tapestries hanging around the front pew, and the fire spread fast, faster than you could contend with the church's meager supply of water. By the time you had run off to wake up everyone else and you all came back out to the main hall, the fire was all over and blocking the front doors. Father Maxwell managed to get it open just enough for you to squeeze out, but the other five children were older than you and couldn't fit."

As Quatre's voice trailed off, Duo found himself somewhere else entirely. He could feel the heat of flames and smell the smoke. People were screaming as things splintered and collapsed.

"_Duo, my boy, you must go for help. Go to the police, the fire department, anywhere. You're the only one who can get out!" Father Maxwell told him in a hushed voice, nudging him towards the door that was ajar._

"_But Father-!" Duo started, pained at the thought of leaving everyone inside._

"_Go!"_

_The young boy squeezed out through the door hurriedly, spurred by the urgency he'd never before heard in Father Maxwell's voice. He darted down the street, calling for help through the empty streets as he made his way towards the police station, which was much closer than the fire department. "Please! Someone help!" he cried loudly. No one emerged from their homes, even when he pounded on doors and called for someone to help. By the time he reached the police sation, he was thoroughly winded, slamming against the front desk where one officer was writing a report._

"_Please! Help! The church is on fire!" he gasped, trying to urge the man to understand the desperate situation._

"_Old Maxwell Church?" the man asked in surprise, getting up from his chair._

"_Yes, hurry!" the young boy said, relieved that someone was finally going to help. The officer made his way to the back hastily, calling for the rest of the station and for someone to call the fire department. Duo turned and flew out of the building, making his way back to the church as sirens pierced the night air. When he made it back, the smoke billowing out from the open door had transformed into flames all over the church._

"_No!" he cried, rushing towards the still open front door and squeezing inside. He was immediately assaulted by waves of hot air, almost choking him when it ran down his throat. The smoke hit him next, prompting the boy to pull up the collar of his shirt and cover his nose and mouth. Right behind him he could hear shouts and sirens from the arriving help, giving him hope that things would be okay soon. For the time being, he plowed ahead to search for his family, calling for them when he was not coughing from the smoke._

_And then he found Sister Helen, her cherished crucifix clutched loosely in one hand. "Duo, my boy..." she said, her beautiful voice flawed and scratchy from the amount of smoke she'd taken in. "It is by God's grace that I see you one more time..."_

"_One more...? No, Sister! Don't talk like that! There's help here and they're going to come get you out of here!" he cried desperately, grabbing onto her hand in both of his. "You just have to hang on a little longer and you'll be okay!"_

"_Dear Duo," she sighed, the sound coming out raspy. "God welcomes me into his realm, I'm sorry I must leave you. Take this," she said, holding up her free hand where the cross dangled innocently, reflecting the fire light. "Keep it... and remember us all, not with sorrow, but... with fondness... You... You must... be..." But she never finished the sentence, her strained breathing stopping forever._

_Feeling hot tears cloud his vision, the young boy clutched the crucifix so tightly in his hand he felt it digging painfully into his palm. The groaning of splintering wood above him slammed him out of the daze and he looked up just in time to see one of the church rafter beams falling. He barely managed to dive out of the way, but his heart split in two when he looked back and saw that delicate arm emerging from the pile of splintered wreckage._

_When the next beam in line collapse without the support of the first, it caught Duo off guard by pinning him in the debris. The fire had taken over the support structure, and made its way to the boy's arm too quickly. The skin under his long black sleeve started to burn, and when it got to the point of crackling and peeling, he screamed._

"Duo!"

He snapped into awareness, the sound of destruction and screams abruptly switching stations to the tranquility of the university's courtyard. Then his other senses came back and he realized someone was holding his arms pinned down to his sides. The brunette looked up, focusing blearily on the worried face of Wufei. "Are you back?" the Chinese boy asked warily. Duo nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment. Wufei released him cautiously. "You started struggling and tearing at your arm."

Duo looked down at the limb in question, feeling the phantom pain from his childhood start to recede. "I remember," he whispered blankly, pulling up his sleeve. The skin on his forearm was a slightly darker shade than the rest, and when he ran his fingers over it he barely felt the touch. "I remember the fire... and... and they all died," he choked. "It's my fault..."

Hands suddenly grabbed his face intrusively before he could finish the sentence. Wufei was looking him dead in the eye. "Do not even think it," he warned in a low voice. "It was _not _your fault, not even a little."

Blue eyes studied his own for a few moments, shifting ever so slightly as Duo studied the sincerity of his words. Wufei was pleased when the brunette nodded a little, whispering, "Okay. Okay..."

Satisfied, Wufei released his roommate and glanced at Quatre, who looked awestruck. "What?" he asked, to which the blonde shook his head, smiling.

"Nothing at all." He then turned to the braided boy. "Are you alright now Duo?"

Duo nodded in response, still looking a little out of sorts. "Yeah, I'm fine... Just a little... overwhelmed."

Wufei frowned. "I knew that was a bad idea."

The brunette shook his head. "No, it's alright Wu. I'm glad I know. I'm one step closer to gathering all the pieces and putting them together to form the missing picture..." He thought for a moment, feeling quite a bit worn out from the two odd occurrences in one day. "Though I think it's best that I don't do anymore of this remembering business today."

Wufei snorted. "Good idea," he remarked dryly, but it was lightened by the teasing smirk on his face. "I think we should head home. Quatre, if you have the means of transportation you're welcome to join us. I'm afraid my motorcycle only seats two."

The blonde shook his head reluctantly. "I'd love to catch up with Duo, but I have a very important meeting I have to get to." They all began walking to the parking lot, a silence gripping the small group until they arrived at Wufei's bike. For a moment, Duo faced Quatre without quite knowing what to do, but the blonde broke the tension for him and stepped forward, grabbing Duo in a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're alive..." he breathed quietly.

Slowly, the brunette brought his arms up around Quatre to return the embrace, patting his back gently. "It's okay Quat. I'm okay."

Quatre laughed shakily. "It's nice to hear you call me that again," he said, pulling away. He gave them both a little wave. "I'll see you two soon, then? Bye."

Wufei and Duo both waved back to the blonde and then watched him turn and walk away. After a few moments, Wufei turned to his roommate and held out the helmet with a stern look on his face. Duo merely smiled and took it without argument. "What would I do without you?" he asked cheekily, securing the strap under his chin and hopping onto the back of the bike.

Ahead of him, Wufei threw a smirk over his shoulder. "You'd be the entrée."

"C'est la vie," Duo sighed, grinning all the way as the motorcycle roared to life and took off.

* * *

That night after his late shift at work, Duo lie on his bed with his hands underneath his head, staring up at the dark ceiling. A sun catcher he'd bought at the thrift store was reflecting little points of light from the street lamps outside onto the walls and ceiling, making a kind of swirling performance as the crystals spun lazily. The brunette couldn't help but mull over the events of the day and his meeting with Quatre Winner. His hand automatically moved up to grasp the cross resting on his chest, the action taking on a whole new meaning than it had previously. As he ran his fingers over the outline of the pendent, Duo's eyes started to sting when he thought about the church.

_Boys don't cry._

The static muffled voice coming through the fogs of his memory had the completely opposite effect as intended. It just made him want to cry even more for some reason, and he couldn't pinpoint why. Here he'd been thinking he didn't have any family, but he _did. _He had them in the form of Father Maxwell, Sister Helen and all the other children there. He could remember their faces clearly now in the dark. Father Maxwell with his weathered features and kindly smile, always regarding a young Duo with benevolence rather than distaste. The deep wrinkles only accentuated his friendly demeanor, the crows feet at his eyes coming off as endearing and wise. Sister Helen with her porcelain face, so delicate and perfect in their construction that she looked more like an angel than a nun. Her golden hair splayed about her head, glowing like a halo in the light of the fire, blue eyes devoid of life as she stared endlessly towards the heavens...

Duo swallowed down the choking feeling in his throat, not having meant to go down that road and make the feelings all the more painful. His eyes stung fiercely as he tried to fight back the hot tears, pursing his lips stubbornly. "Stop being such a baby," he whispered to the dark ceiling harshly, watching the spots of light dance. He knew Wufei would tell him he was being stupid, that it was okay to mourn those lost, but he just felt like such a weakling.

Duo abruptly threw the blankets to the side and got up, leaving his bedroom. He glided down the hall and into the kitchen like a wraith, making sure not to wake Wufei. The brunette got a glass out of the cupboard and poured himself some water from the filter on the tap, taking a few sips of the cool liquid. It tasted so bland to him at the moment that he quickly set it down on the counter, feeling the familiar warmth build behind his eyes. "Damnit," he whispered, bringing up the heel of his palm to wipe roughly at the gathering tears.

_Boys don't cry._

"Stop it!" he hissed angrily, driving his forehead to rest on the refrigerator door with a light thump. "Just leave me alone," Duo whispered, finding now that he wasn't so eager to remember all the things he was missing. He could have done without the church tale if it would have spared him feeling like a worthless cry baby.

"Duo?"

The brunette slowly turned around, finding a concerned looking Wufei standing in the doorway of the kitchen in a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. He flipped a switch on the wall, flooding the kitchen with light and making his roommate's state visible. "Oh, Duo..." he said quietly, walking forward. Against his usual policy on the action, he backed up against the counter and hopped up, gesturing for Duo to do the same. When the brunette had joined him on the counter top, Wufei wrapped an arm around the grieving boy's shoulders, pulling him close in a one-armed hug. "It's okay," he whispered, much in the way Duo had done for Quatre earlier in the day.

Comforted by this simple gesture, Duo let out a shaky breath. "I hate this, Wufei," he said quietly.

"I know," the Asian boy replied in an equally soft voice, keeping his tone level to help ground the brunette. "I know you're hurting, and that recovering the pieces of the puzzle is tougher than you thought, but it will be okay. We'll figure all this out, and with Quatre on our side things will get easier. I promise."

Slowly, a watery smile stretched Duo's lips. "You're a prince, Fei," he said, his voice regaining a little bit of stability. Wufei didn't even protest the nickname, just gave him a little nudge to get him off the counter.

"Now off to bed with you, it's late."

Duo laughed, feeling his heart lighten. "What would I do without you?"

* * *

That's it for chapter 5. I promise there's some action coming up soon, for real! As surely as Duo got mowed over by a creep-mobile! And the quote at the beginning is mine, so no touchy! (as if anyone would)


	6. In Which The Interlude Ends

Shadows Beneath

Chapter 6: In Which The Interlude Ends

* * *

"_The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend."_

_-Aristotle_

* * *

When Duo woke up the next morning, he did not feel rested at all. He vaguely remembered waking up several times during the night, the image of burning faces fading from his mind now that it was daylight. Besides the people Quatre had told him about, one stranger kept appearing in the dreams, telling him things that he couldn't remember now that he was awake. The person was a fuzzy image of someone he had to assume he used to know, but he couldn't pick out any details in the dream, let alone remember the sound of the voice. It was all fading now as he sat quietly in his bed, mulling over his meeting with Quatre. He stared at the far wall for a long time before getting up to head into the kitchen. When he arrived, Wufei was sitting at the table with a cup of tea and a plate of toast in front of him.

"Morning," Duo said wearily, grabbing a box of cereal from the cupboard.

"Trouble sleeping?" Wufei asked carefully, zeroing in on the problem right away.

"Yeah," the brunette replied. He had no doubt that Wufei knew precisely why he'd had trouble sleeping, but no one needed to mention it. It was obvious. Duo sighed slightly as he poured cereal into his bowl, adding some milk and a spoon before making his way to the table. They ate in silence for a few moments before Wufei spoke.

"You're off from work today?" he inquired, flicking crumbs off his fingers and onto the plate.

Duo looked up from his cereal. "Yeah, why?"

Wufei paused thoughtfully, swirling around the tea in his mug in an idle manner. "I thought maybe we could head out of town for the day. This is the first time in a long while that I'm off from school and work, so I thought we could take advantage of it. Take your mind off things," he explained. Ever since the meeting with Quatre yesterday, he'd been wondering how to stop the brunette from fretting over things that were beyond his control. He wanted to get Duo's mind off the subject for a little while, and his roommate's rough night was testament that the dip into his past was causing issues.

Duo studied him for a long moment, a smile playing across his face. "Yeah, that sounds nice. Anything specific you had in mind?"

Wufei shrugged. "Not exactly. But since it's unseasonably warm, I thought maybe we could take advantage of the weather and go to the beach. We could pack a lunch, and maybe invite Quatre if you'd like?" he asked, unsure as to how to brunette had received his friend from the past.

Duo thought for a moment, smiling at the idea. "Yeah, that sounds fun. Quatre seems like a nice kid, and I'd like to get to know him again... Wait, won't I need swim trunks or something?"

"Oh, we won't be swimming," Wufei replied with a chuckle. "It will be warm enough on the beach, but the water in this area of the coast is freezing. You're body will go numb in a matter of minutes."

"Oh, okay then," Duo said, grinning. A nice relaxing day at the beach sounded just like what he needed to cool down and get his head on straight, not to mention catching up with Quatre. Besides being the only link to his past memories and life, the blonde seemed like a really nice person, definitely someone he'd want to be friends with. He could tell Wufei definitely needed a chance to relax as well. He'd been under a lot of stress lately between his classes and work, giving him a full plate of things to deal with. Duo knew they both needed this, even though he could tell Wufei wasn't thinking of himself in terms of the mini-vacation. That thought warmed him. "You know, its funny how we ended up friends. For all you knew I could've been an escaped mental patient making up shit about conspiracy theories," he said with a grin.

Wufei smirked at him, looking cool and casual. "You still could be. You do come off as mental from time to time."

"Aww, don't spare my feelings or anything," the brunette shot back, still grinning happily.

The Chinese boy scoffed and rolled his eyes in response, but the effect was ruined by the good humored smile on his face.

They finished their breakfast and managed to find the scrap of paper on which Quatre had scrawled down his number the day before. Wufei dialed the number on the cordless handset, but he didn't even get to sit down before it went straight to voicemail. "His phone is off," he muttered to Duo, keeping an ear on the recorded message until the beep signaled him to start. "Hello Quatre, this is Wufei. We're heading to the beach today and we were hoping you could come. You're probably busy, but you're welcome to join us if you get this message. You have my number, bye."

After hanging up the phone, he turned to Duo, who looked a little disappointed. "Maybe some other time," he told the brunette, setting the phone back in its cradle.

Duo nodded. "Yeah. He seems like a busy guy, anyway." A thought struck the braided boy after a moment, and he turned blue eyes to his roommate. "Hey, maybe Heero would like to go? He could use some loosening up," he suggested. Over the few months he'd been living with Wufei, he'd met up Heero more and more, seeing as he was Wufei's best friend. He'd first given off the impression of being stiff and grumpy, but over a few meetings he'd come to the conclusion that Heero was just quiet. He took things a little too seriously, and that had made Duo want to crack his shell the same way that Wufei had started to open up.

Wufei thought about the idea for a few seconds before wrinkling his nose. "I doubt it. He's mentioned a few times that he doesn't like the beach very much. His girlfriend dragged him along a few times and I had to listen to him gripe about it," he said with a chuckle. "Though you're welcome to ask him, if you think you can convince him."

"Eh, I'll take your word for it," Duo dismissed. "We'll get him out somewhere else one of these days. But for now, let's get ready to go."

Wufei agreed to both of those sentiments before heading off for the shower. Heero was definitely a quiet one, like himself. But if he, being the biggest sourpuss in the world by Relena's words, could lighten up in the presence of the charming Duo Maxwell, then so could Heero. They'd been friends for a long time, and thus had never really grown out of their tendencies to keep to themselves. Their quiet personalities had never had a chance to open up since they'd never had reason to, so long as they had each other to interact with all throughout childhood. But now Wufei was starting to notice differences in himself the longer Duo was around, so he figured Heero would benefit from the brunette's friendship as well. Wufei really did like the idea of seeing his childhood friend open up a little more. But that was for another day, when Duo couldn't splash the Japanese boy with ice cold ocean water.

Wufei chuckled at the thought, knowing it was a definite possibility.

* * *

Since Duo had gotten up earlier than usual due to the nightmares making sleep impossible, they managed to get ready to go by around 10:30. They packed a lunch of sandwiches into a small ice chest, along with some water and sodas for drinks. Since it was about a thirty minute drive out to the coast, they agreed to stop by a local sports store for Duo to pick out a helmet of his own. Besides the safety issue, Wufei had skirted danger the few times he'd taken Duo somewhere on the bike and he knew it would only be a matter of time before they got pulled over for one or the other not wearing a helmet. They spent about ten minutes in the sports store, with Wufei giving his housemate tips on picking out the right headwear. The right comfort, fit, price, and style all came into conflict until Duo found one to his liking. The price wasn't too steep and it fit perfectly, so he bought it and they were on their way once more.

As they drove down the increasingly winding coastal road, mini-cooler secured to the back of the motorcycle with some bungee cables, Duo felt the stress start to melt away. He loved being on the motorcycle, with the wind ripping at his clothes and hair in a way that made him feel like he was flying. It was such an invigorating sensation, and make the idea of driving in a car seem utterly boring. Duo knew that whenever he could afford a vehicle of his own it would definitely be a motorcycle. Not one of those loud, obnoxious Harley's, but a sporty model like Wufei's was what he wanted. A black and chrome Harley was way cool looking, but they were just too damn loud, and Duo was more interested in something sleek and sexy anyway. He wanted something streamlined and fast.

He could only imagine what it would be like to go wherever the hell he wanted, nothing but the open road ahead of him...

He sighed in pleasure at the idea. He was definitely saving up for a motorcycle. _Then _school.

The cool coastal air was starting to feel quite cold thanks to their speed and exposed position, and it made Duo thankful he'd heeded Wufei's advice to bring a jacket. By the time they got to the beach, the brunette felt thoroughly windswept and his legs were a little sore from the ride, but it was kind of a pleasant feeling. It felt good to stretch when he slid off the bike, taking off the helmet to let the sun's rays hit his face. Despite the cool breeze, it was pleasantly warm. He looked out at the beach at the top of a short bluff while Wufei turned off the vehicle and put it up on the stand. He saw some people out by the shore, but no one was in the water, let alone in swimwear of any sort, proving Wufei's earlier words that the water was freezing.

When the Chinese boy joined him, they headed down the short, rocky path to the sandy area. Wufei carried the ice chest while Duo had a backpack that contained a towel for each of them to sit on, some sunscreen, a couple pairs of sunglasses, flip flops and two books. They trudged through the sand to scope out a good spot until they found an area clean of rocks and dried things washed up from the ocean. It was far enough away from the other beach goers for Wufei's tastes and close enough to the water for Duo's. They settled down in the warm sand and Duo immediately took off his shoes and socks to bury his feet. He marveled over the strange yet pleasant feeling, wiggling his toes around happily.

Wufei watched all this with an amused smile, enjoying Duo's display of childlike wonder at such a simple thing. But it also reminded him that his housemate lacked memories of such things, like vacations and trips to the beach. The thought depressed him, but he banished it from his mind with the knowledge that Duo would form new memories even if he couldn't retrieve all of his old ones. The braided boy had been showing an ability to move on from his troubled awakening in the facility, and he could only hope those assholes would give up and leave him alone instead of stirring the pot even more. The last thing Duo needed on top of recovering disturbing memories was further pursuit from some white coats who wanted him as a lab rat.

Shaking his head to rid himself of such thoughts, Wufei reclined back on his towel and stretched out to enjoy the warm sun, pulling down his sunglasses. He heard Duo make a sound of excitement. "Wufei, I'm going down to the shore to look for shells!" he said happily.

"Put on your shoes," the Chinese boy warned without looking up. "You don't want to step on anything sharp."

"Yes mother," Duo chirped in a teasing voice, making his way down the beach to search for treasure. He ignored Wufei's insulted voice behind him as he squished through the warm sand, almost losing his flip flops several times on the way. When he arrived at the shore, Duo curiously stepped into the path of a small oncoming wave. Water flooded his feet about an inch high and the brunette danced backwards with a most undignified shriek. "Holy hell! That's friggin cold!" he exclaimed to himself, shaking his feet to remove the excess water. "Damn! I didn't think it would be _that _cold, but Wu wasn't kidding when he said freezing!" The brunette took a few more steps back when another wave started approaching, making sure he was above the waterline. "Okay, no more water for me," he mumbled, grinning despite. He turned his attention back to the quest for sea shells, wandering along a thick line of things that had washed up at a higher tide.

A lot of it was sea weed and driftwood, but he found a few colorful spiral shells and a whole lot of mussels. They were pretty, but after the first five he started to ignore them since they were so plentiful and he wanted to save room in his pockets for other treasures. Eventually he came upon a particularly rocky area, and that childish delight from earlier overtook once more when he spotted something moving about in a puddle of sea water. Closer inspection revealed it to be a hermit crab, and he watched the tiny creature in fascination for a good few minutes. When Duo worked up the resolve to pick it up, the little legs grappled for purchase in the empty air, causing him to chuckle. The braided boy scooped up some water in his hand and let the critter crawl around on his palm for a while before putting it back where he'd found it.

Duo decided the rocky area would be a good place to explore further, since anything washed up from the ocean would be able to catch on the craggy surfaces and remain after the tide had receded. His theory proved correct as he started to find a lot of interesting shells, colorful and oddly shaped in their diversity, until his pockets became bulky. Just as he was heading away to unload his findings into the back pack and check in with Wufei, something caught his eye. It was half-buried in the sand nearer to the water, so he carefully ventured closer. As a wave washed over the object and brushed away some sand, it glinted in the sunlight. "Something shiny!" Duo said excitedly. "I must have it!"

He crept closer to the object, trying to hurry incase the water decided to sweep it away before he could reach it. When it was the right time, Duo dashed down the few feet to the object and grabbed it out of the sand, high-tailing it out of the danger zone as a wave rushed up the beach. Once he was safe and out of the water's reach, he took a moment to observe his find, breath catching his throat. "Wow," he breathed.

It looked like a small portion of a much larger shell even though it was about three inches across at its widest, curved just a little with edges smoothed out from the water. One side was dull, rough, and tan, but the inside was a myriad of colors. The surface was smooth and polished, with purple, pink and green swirling and battling for dominance. The colors were breath-taking paired with the smooth texture, and Duo could only admire the beauty of his treasure. Grinning, he clumsily made his way back up the beach, almost losing his flip flops _again _in his haste to get through the sand. "Wufei!" he called excitedly, causing the Asian to lift his sunglasses in curiosity. "Look what I found!" he said, dropping to his knees next to the dark haired boy and showing off his discovery.

Wufei took the shell and held it up to study, looking interested. "Nice find. It's abalone, quite a large piece."

"How big is the whole thing?" Duo asked curiously, confirming in suspicion that what he'd found was only a fraction of an intact shell.

Wufei thought for a moment, holding out his hands in an attempt to demonstrate the size. "Oh, about this big when they're full grown," he said, miming the size and near shape similar to that of a large bowl. Duo's eyes were wide with wonder.

"Wow," the brunette said, grinning as he imagined an enlarged version of the portion he'd found. "D'ya think I could find one of those?"

"Maybe," Wufei told him, handing back the shell. "They don't wash up whole quite often, but you never know."

"Cool," Duo said, unloading the shells from his pockets into the small pouch on the front of their back pack. The Chinese boy watched this with a raised eyebrow, eyeing the multitude of shells.

"You're not going back for more are you?"

"No," the brunette replied, zipping up the pouch when he was finished. "But I wanna see if I can find more abalone. I'm going back to the spot where I found the first one, and maybe do a little rock climbing."

"Be careful on the rocks," Wufei warned, lowering his sunglasses once more to shield his eyes.

"I will," Duo said, getting up and heading back down towards the rocky area of the beach. Wufei watched him for a few moments before lying back down on the towel, sighing in content. It really had been too long since he'd had a day off, and what a perfect way to spend it. Warm sun, the pleasing sound of the ocean, a perfect breeze, and Duo enjoying himself without the threat of danger. Wufei thought to himself that the only way to improve on the day was if the water was actually somewhat warm so he could enjoy a swim. But we can't have everything we want, so he enjoyed what he had. Tomorrow he would have to go back to work, so he soaked it in, taking in a deep breath of fresh sea air before letting out another contented sigh.

Before he knew it, he'd started to drift off into a half-awake state, feeling comfortable enough to stay in the drowsy consciousness. Sounds became far off and muffled, and the only thing he became aware of was the all encompassing warmth and the sound of waves. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since Duo had wandered off, but his awareness suddenly came back into focus when he heard a sharp curse further down the beach, sounding pained. Wufei sat up and took off his sunglasses, spotting Duo hobbling towards him while heavily favoring his right foot. He cursed and got up, hurrying across the sand to meet Duo halfway. "What happened?" he demanded, putting the brunette's arm around his shoulder so Wufei could support him.

"Slipped," Duo murmured, his voice a mixture of pain and embarrassment. He bent his leg at the knee so the underside of his foot was visible, and there was no missing the large, jagged cut on the arch of his foot.

"I told you to be careful!" Wufei scolded, helping his roommate back up towards their spot so he could clean the wound.

"I _was!" _Duo exclaimed in his defense, looking annoyed for the reprimand he was receiving. He frowned when Wufei didn't say anything further, opting instead to roll his eyes and help the brunette sit down on the towel.

"Keep your foot off the towel and off the sand," he said shortly, pulling the backpack over to look around inside. He knew they were in here somewhere from his last camping trip... "There," he said in satisfaction, pulling out a small package of tissues. He set them on the towel and then fished a bottle of water out of the ice chest. "This is going to be cold," he warned the other boy, splashing water on the underside of Duo's foot to wash away the blood and sand. Duo jerked slightly from the cold water, but managed to hold still until Wufei had cleaned the area to his liking. "Keep pressure on it," Wufei told him, handing the braided boy a small stack of folded tissues. "I'll be right back."

Duo watched helplessly as his roommate went from person to person, unable to hear what he was asking them. He opted to sulk as he pressed the tissues to his stinging foot, feeling rather like a foolish child for the way Wufei had been talking to him over the incident. He sighed heavily, noticing that one of the strangers had nodded to whatever Wufei asked, and they walked up the short trail to the parking lot. Duo couldn't see what was happening from then on, but Wufei reappeared shortly with a small white box in his hands, a first aid kit. "You're lucky," he said as he kneeled down in front of Duo. "I managed to find someone who had medical supplies in their car. Keep your foot steady."

Duo watched, still sullen, as Wufei opened up the first aid kit and took out a sealed disinfecting wipe. He unwrapped this and unfolded the moist towel, grabbing hold of Duo's ankle to keep it steady while he further cleaned the wound. The brunette winced as the disinfecting agent stung the ragged cut, and he tried not to squirm too much. Damn rocks, making him slip like that. He blamed the seagull that had dive bombed him for whatever reason. Crazy ass bird...

"Almost done," Wufei told him, breaking him out of his sulking. Duo was surprised at how gently his roommate has handling the injury, after all that talking down he'd been doing earlier. The Chinese boy took out a sterile gauze pad and pressed it to the injury softly. "Hold that there," he said to Duo, who kept the gauze in place while Wufei took out a roll of bandages and began winding it around his foot. The gentleness of the action struck Duo, and he watched those careful hands roll the bandages snuggly around the arch of his foot. When Wufei was finished he tied off the ends, making sure they weren't too tight. "There," he said. "Make sure you don't put your foot in the sand."

"Uh huh," Duo said quietly, watching the other boy pack up the first aid kit and get up to return it to the owner. While Wufei was doing this, the brunette started to pick up the wrappings and bits of trash from the supplies they'd used, putting them into a plastic bag. The bloodied tissues went in as well before he tied the bag shut, shoving it into the back pack to be thrown away later. By the time Wufei came back and sat down next to him, Duo was silent. He heard his roommate say something about lunch, and while he was pulling their sandwiches out of the ice chest, Duo tried to explain himself. "I was being careful, you know. A bird dive bombed me and I slipped."

"Mm hm," Wufei agreed in a teasing voice, holding out the sandwich.

Instead of taking offense to the tone, Duo allowed a little grin as he took the food, as well as a can of soda. He deserved a little teasing, he figured, for not putting on his tennis shoes before he went poking around the rocks. Flip flops weren't the best for climbing.

They ate their lunch with bits of conversation in between, agreeing that they'd like to come back to the beach sometime. Besides the injury, it had been quite a pleasant trip so far. Duo was just sad that he couldn't go exploring anymore, but he'd at least found another piece of abalone before being taken out of commission. It was a little smaller than the first but just as pretty. He took a drink of his soda, knowing what he would do with the second piece. When they were both finished with their lunches, Duo held out the abalone to Wufei. "Here," he said. "I found another one."

Slowly, the Chinese boy took the offering, turning it over in his hands to observe the effect of light shining on the polished surface. He looked up at Duo and gave him a small smile. "Thank you," he said.

Duo grinned back and rolled over onto his stomach on the towel, bending his knees so that his feet were in the air. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, they lounged and chatted, talking about how work was going, how Wufei's classes were progressing. As the day stretched on, it started getting chilly, so they decided to pack up and head home. "Put your shoes on," Wufei told his roommate as he packed up their things into the backpack. "I won't have sand getting in that cut on your foot."

"Carry me?" Duo asked cheekily, holding his arms out like a toddler wanting to be picked up.

Wufei rolled his eyes, throwing the brunette's shoes at him. "In your dreams, Maxwell. Get going."

Duo blew a raspberry in response before putting on his socks and slipping on his shoes. His wound safe from the sand, he stepped off the towel and shook the sand out of the both of them. After everything was put away, they headed up the trail to the parking lot. As Wufei was strapping the ice chest to the back of the motorcycle, Duo took off his sweater and put it back on over his braid so it wouldn't be whipping around behind him this time around. They zipped up their sweaters against the cooling weather before getting on the bike. Duo wrapped his arms around Wufei's waist and they took off, leaving the beach behind and drowning out the sound of the ocean with the rumbling purr of the bike's engine.

It wasn't long into the drive that Duo sensed a presence behind them. He glanced over his shoulder at the seemingly empty road, but a few seconds later a vehicle emerged from behind the bend and Duo's eyes widened. "Fuck!"

It was a white van.

Duo turned forward and gave Wufei's shoulder a harried nudge, pointing behind them when the Chinese boy turned towards him. He couldn't quite see his expression through the dark visor of the helmet, nor could he hear the frantic curse that had surely been uttered, but he saw the urgency in his housemate's movements when he turned forward again. He revved the engine and pressed on the accelerator to pull away from the van. Duo's deepest fears were confirmed when the van sped up as well, tailing them. "Aw hell!" the brunette hissed. He carefully lifted one leg up and over the seat and twisted around so he was facing the van. He lifted the visor of his helmet to try and get a look at whoever was driving the white vehicle. He couldn't see anything in the two that would point to them being with the facility, but the guy in the passenger seat looked furious and hell bent on something, which told Duo all he needed to know.

When he spotted the passenger bend down to dig around for something, he grew worried and looked for any sort of ammunition of his own. Looking down, he spotted the ice chest and an idea formed in his head. Grinning, he unhooked the bungee cable that was holding the lid closed and reached in for a can of soda. He shook it as hard and fast as he could, feeling the aluminum tense up with building pressure within. Just as he was about to chuck it at the windshield, the man in the passenger seat of the van sat up, pointing something out the window right at Duo.

"Oh my god," he whispered, face draining of color. With the drawing of a gun, things suddenly got all too real and he threw the soda can as hard as he could at the windshield. As he'd hoped, the pressure of the carbonation and the force of the impact caused the soda to burst, splashing the windshield in a thick, frothy spray of root beer. He grinned when the van swerved dangerously, reaching into the ice chest for more ammunition. The driver would surely figure out how to turn on the windshield wipers pretty soon, and he would be ready to land another blow. Hopefully he could throw it hard enough to crack the glass and impair their visibility for good...

Duo screeched in surprise when the motorcycle jerked left sharply, and if it weren't for his quick reaction of grabbing the back of the seat he would have become road art all over the scenic coastal road. He craned his head around to see what the problem was and immediately spotted the second white van that flew past them, missing the two boys by an inch. Heart pounding in his chest, Duo looked around Wufei's helmet and saw another one approaching. This one swerved into their lane and stopped sideways in front of the motorcycle. Duo had to hold on for dear life again, sitting backwards on the bike as Wufei swerved sharply to avoid the obstacle, losing speed. While this happened, the other one sped ahead of the bike, back doors wide open, just before the driver slammed on the brakes.

"Shit!" Wufei exclaimed in panic, trying to put on the brakes, but it was too late. The front tire of his motorcycle hit the bumper of the van, causing the backend of the bike to flip over the front and into the open doors of the white vehicle with a loud clatter, taking the boys with it. Duo was launched off the back end of the motorcycle and into the back interior wall of the van, while Wufei tumbled with his bike. Their landing in the van was rough, painful, and cold thanks to the spilled ice water from their cooler, and they had just enough time to see darkness close in on them from the double doors being shut. The helmets just hadn't been enough, and moments later they were both lost to the blissful arms of unconsciousness.

* * *

I finished this last night at 2 in the morning, so I decided to wait until today to post it. I can't proofread that late at night. xD Ha, I told you we'd get to the action. After a relaxing day at the beach, of course. What will happen now that Duo's back in the hands of the white-coats? Until next time!


	7. Reading Loud and Clear

Shadows Beneath

Chapter 7: When the Static Clears

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"_It hurts to find out that what you wanted doesn't match what you dreamed it would be."_

_-Randy K. Milholland_

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A quiet room. White walls, white bed, white lights. The only sound was the slow pulse of the heart monitor. White washed, desolate, with only a window letting in any kind of life. The situation seemed terribly familiar to Duo when his eyes fluttered open, remaining half-lidded in his foggy state. His head was pounding in a way that felt like the blood itself was trying to push out of his ears and escape. His wrist was sore as well, a fiery ache that made it impossible to move his fingers without pain. The other injuries felt minor, just bruises and scrapes that he couldn't quite pinpoint, meaning they were insignificant enough in the wake of a most likely broken wrist and concussion. When he commanded his eyes to focus, he could definitely recognize his surroundings.

"I've come full circle," he croaked desolately, his voice dry and creaky from the effects of whatever drug they pumped into him.

"Duo..."

The brunette startled slightly at the voice. "Wufei?" he asked, trying to sit up only to be stopped by a pressure on his wrists.

"Don't bother," the tired voice of his roommate said, and Duo's head craned around to find him sitting slouched in a chair next to his bed. Blue eyes searched out the problem, and he saw metal restraints cuffing his wrists to the bed frame. "I already tried to get them off, they're locked," Wufei elaborated.

Duo turned his gaze back to Wufei to inspect for damage. He had a dark bruise on his forehead, but that was the only visible injury he could find. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, feeling an increasing swell of anger that Wufei had been dragged into this fucking mess and been injured because of him.

The Chinese boy shook his head with a sigh. "I'm fine. Sore, but fine. What about you?"

"Just about the same, as far as I can tell," Duo said. "With the exception of a broken wrist. Has anyone come in here since you woke up?"

"No," Wufei replied, glancing at the door as if the thought would make someone suddenly appear. "Not a peep."

Duo looked over at the door as well, eyebrows furrowing in confusion before returning to his roommate. Why hadn't he...?

Wufei seemed to read his thoughts. "The door's locked, not that I would leave you in this hellhole even if it weren't. They had me locked in a separate room at first, but I guess they got tired of the fuss I was making so they threw me in with you," he said, a weary smirk quirking his lips.

The brunette wanted to laugh, to smile, anything at the idea of Wufei driving the staff of the facility up the wall with his badgering, but he just couldn't. It fell in the face of a much more daunting thought that would not leave him alone. It made him feel terrible, and it was tearing up his brain with guilt. "Wufei... I'm sorry you got roped into this... After a while it started to seem like the whole thing had been a dream, but I guess I got careless..." he said quietly, averting his eyes to stare at the opposite side of the room.

"Don't you start blaming yourself for these things again," the Chinese boy chastised with a bit of teasing to his voice. It drew hesitant blue eyes back to him. "How could you have prevented this? In all actuality I had more control over the situation than you did, me being the one driving." Duo still didn't look convinced, so he continued, his voice turning soft and losing the little bit of humor he'd been able to coax into his tired words. "Look, Duo. When I took you in, I knew the risks, based on what you'd told me about your stay in this place. You're no longer just some stranger that I'm helping out, you're my friend, and I'm with you on this."

Moved by the heartfelt words, Duo stared up at Wufei for a long time in the silence, feeling warmth well in his chest. "Thanks Fei..." he said softly. The nickname he'd only used once before felt oddly intimate, even more so than the first time he'd used it. Something stirred in his chest, but before either of them could speak the door opened.

"Awake, are we?" came a smooth voice from the doorway. A man in a white lab coat immediately stepped inside, closing the door behind him and an audible 'click' signaling it had been locked once more.

Wufei wearily sat down from where he'd been half-way out of the chair, watching the man with tired eyes. The white-coat looked to be in his late thirties, with brown hair combed back neatly and a pair of glasses resting on his ordinary looking face. He looked like he should have been the nice neighbor down the street, not someone performing experiments on another human being. He walked forward and observed the two boys with a calm look, writing something on his clipboard.

"Just tell me something, give me a straight answer," Wufei said in a low voice, looking up at the man from his chair. "What are you doing to him here? Why Duo?"

"That I cannot tell you, young man," the scientist said genially, almost in a bored tone. "You already know too much, that's why we have you here. Otherwise you'd be gone, seeing as we don't need you."

"That's not fair," Duo said, sounding like he wanted to put accusation in his words but he was just too drained. "That's fucking rotten, you know. Dragging him into this just because he tried to help me when I had nowhere to go."

"As much as I'd like to let your friend be on his way, I can't," the white-coat said patiently to the boy strapped to the bed. "It just can't be done. It's protocol in this business," he explained, checking the readings on the heart monitor to scribble down what the screen portrayed.

Duo's eyelids fluttered from the escalating pain in his head, so he just let them slip shut in an attempt to block out the world. He'd been so close to being normal... he'd been retrieving some of his lost memories, he had a job, a home, a life, and friends. Now all that was being dashed to pieces again. Destroyed for the second time because someone just couldn't keep their hands off of him for their games. He was so tired of living this ridiculous mystery sci-fi novel that his life had turned into as of late. He wanted to be normal so badly that it hurt to have been thrown back in this place again. He sighed and mumbled tiredly.

"Sorry?"

Duo opened his eyes to look at the white-coat, who he just noticed had a name tag on the left side of his chest that read 'Phillip.' He spoke again, louder this time. "Can I at least have some aspirin? My head is killing me."

Phil stared at him for a long moment, and briefly, just for the briefest second, Duo thought he saw a flash of human compassion in the man's eyes. "Of course," he said after a while, looking down to Wufei. "Would you like some too?"

"Please," Wufei replied, leaning his chin in his palm and closing his eyes.

Phillip went about checking a few more things on the machines next to Duo's bed before leaving the room, casting the sterile, white environment in silence once more.

Nothing but the steady beep of the heart monitor.

* * *

After Phil had been and gone, leaving them with water and aspirin, Duo was fully certain that he'd never get out of this place. He'd been stupidly lucky the first time around when the dumb jackasses hadn't thought to lock the door or restrain him, but that had only delayed the inevitable for a few weeks. He wondered what they would do to him this time around, what they had done to him last time, and if he'd wake up one day flushed of the few memories he'd made since meeting Wufei. Would he lose the memories of his new life, just as he'd lost the ones of a life that included Quatre and the church? He had to wonder if the people here had even intended to rob him of those in the first place, or if it had just been an unexpected side effect.

After another hour or two, Duo wasn't too sure since he'd been lost in his thoughts the entire time, another new face entered the room. "Heya sport," a cheerful voice said from the doorway, garnering their attention. The man looked a little older than Phillip, with his dark brown hair starting to gray into a salt and pepper color. His eyes were brown and deceptively friendly looking.

"Do I know you?" Duo asked suspiciously, eyeing the man with distrust.

The scientist put a look of mock-hurt on his face, putting a hand to his chest. "Why, I'm wounded! You don't recognize your own godfather?"

Duo's stomach seemed to drop out into oblivion, leaving a frighteningly hollow feeling. "Wh- What?"

"Well of course you wouldn't remember, that is the point," the man said idly, taking off his glasses to wipe them with a soft cloth. He held them up to the light for inspection before putting them back on. "I'm your godfather, Thomas."

"Listen here, Thomas-" Duo started, but he was interrupted by a chuckle.

"No no, I'm Daryl, _your _name is Thomas. Your real name, I mean. Thomas Reeves. Your parents were Nicholas and Cecilia Reeves, and were close friends of mine," the man explained with a smile, walking closer. He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a worn photograph, holding it out for a baffled looking Duo to take.

The brunette took the photo shakily, not sure he wanted to see what it held. He looked at the faces beneath the glossy finish, swallowing thickly. "My parents..." he whispered. There stood a happy looking couple smiling at the camera. The man was a bit taller than his wife, with dirty blonde hair cropped in a neat cut and green eyes. The petite woman next to him had long brown hair falling below her shoulders in waves, blue eyes settled behind slightly messy bangs. She held a tiny child in her arms, and it couldn't have been anymore than two years old. The kid had a head of brown hair and eyes just as blue as his mother's, a happy smile on his pudgy face... "That's me," Duo whispered in shock. "I look like my mom..."

"Yes," the man agreed, pulling another photo from his pocket. "Though Solo rather took after your father."

"Solo?" Duo asked dazedly, looking up at Daryl with a look of confusion. The second photo was offered to him, and he took it. He was a bit older in this one, about three or four, and the child next to him looked to be around six. The older boy looked just like Duo's father, the same green eyes and blonde hair staring back at him from the photo. "Is he... my brother?" he asked in confusion.

"_Was _your brother," Daryl corrected. "He died a long time ago, sometime after Nick and Cessy. I'm not too sure on the details, we lost track of him."

Duo stared at the photo as long lost memories clamored for his attention. The blurry figure that had been plaguing his fitful dreams the other night was starting to fill in and come into focus. Solo, or rather Solomon, for which he used to giggle and tease his older brother and get his ass handed to him. That same voice from weeks ago came back to him, speaking to him with determination and a grave responsibility.

_Boys don't cry._

_But mama and daddy... they're..._

_I know they're gone, but you have to be strong, okay kid? Buck up!_

Duo became aware of his harsh breathing and the pain slowly squeezing his heart like a vice, but he couldn't look away. Unable to hold his silence anymore, Wufei stood up and moved in front of Daryl, causing him to step back a little. "Why are you telling him all this?" he asked angrily, feeling hate towards this man for how he talked about the death of Duo's family so casually. "Why? Just to cause him pain?"

"He asked, and I will tell him," Daryl replied in a steely voice.

Wufei scowled at him, but didn't say anything, opting instead to sit on the uncomfortable bed next to Duo. He gently put a hand over the photo, breaking the brunette out of his thoughts. Misty blue eyes regarded him wearily, and Wufei could only set a hand on the other boy's shoulder to offer what little comfort he could. Duo looked back up at the older man. "Go on," he said quietly.

"That first photo I gave you was the day your parents decided to enroll you in our program here. Your dad worked with me and we were good friends, and I encouraged him to put you into our memory tests. We were working on various hypotheses developed to improve memory function in the human brain," Daryl explained, eyes alight with memories of the work he'd expected to be ground breaking. "Unfortunately, Nick and Cecilia died in a car crash a few years later. You were four at the time, just old enough to comprehend what had happened. You were here at the facility when it happened and Solo was in school. Your brother never approved of your involvement in the research, and now that your parents weren't around to hush him, he demanded that you be pulled from our experiments."

"But you didn't let me go," Duo stated blankly, eyes set dead center on his so-called godfather as he waited for more.

"Of course not," Daryl said like it was obvious. "We had already collected so much valuable data on you, having been in the program for two years. We couldn't release such an important subject. But then a few weeks later, the two of you snuck out of the facility. From that point I'm not too clear on the details."

Duo's eyes lost their focus as he stared down at the picture, the missing pieces filling in themselves. He remembered clutching for dear life to Solo's hand as his older brother led them out of the building, almost getting caught by the night watch several times. They'd emerged into the cold night air and ran for it, their breath coming out in white puffs as the young children ran anywhere they could to get away. They lived on pilfered food and handouts, while Solo made up stories to strangers about missing the school bus back from a field trip. Solo himself hadn't known the cities outside of their own, so he pointed in a random direction and a stranger took them away from the place and memories of the facility where they'd practically grown up.

They'd been dropped off in front of an elementary school, assuring the stranger that their parents would pick them up. From there they lived on the streets, with Duo becoming harder for his brother to care for as the effects of the studies left him more and more confused by the day. He had felt disoriented all the time, lost and befuddled. Eventually Solo had gotten sick, terribly sick. He'd hid it well from his increasingly spacey little brother, but it all caught up to him until one day Duo awoke to find Solo shivering and pale on the ground. His brother was dying, and the now five year old Duo could do nothing, his befuddled mind not allowing him to remember for more than a few minutes that he needed to find help. By the end of the day, his brother, his Solo, his everything, had died, leaving him with the advice he'd always offered in the past

_Boys don't cry._

Seeing the older boy slip away had put a terrible increase on the pressure that had been building inside his head for the last year. It made his vision go into a blistering shade of white that he'd floated in for who knew how long. When he'd next come into consciousness, he was in a tiny bed, in a tiny little church, with dirty, tiny faces watching him in curiosity. Then a kindly priest came into the room with a bowl of soup, smiling at him with a weathered face. He was asked his name, but he couldn't recall it. His mind kept screaming at him, Solo, SoloSoloSoloSoloSolo but that didn't sound right, didn't sound like his, so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind, just seemed right in relation to the other entity assaulting his blank mind. Duo. Solo and Duo together, a match...

"You remember, don't you?"

The voice of Daryl brought the brunette out of his spell, with a fading pressure receding from within his head. Dancing spots of light left him, and he realized he hadn't been breathing for a significant amount of time. Duo let out the breath he'd been holding, taking deep and steady gulps of air to relieve the dizziness. He heard Wufei asking him something, but he could only focus on a random spot on the floor. "I do," he said quietly. "I remember."

Daryl smiled. "You slipped under our radar for quite some time, but we found you in that city, only a few miles away from this place. We had to bring you back here, to observe the long term results of the tests. That's why we went to such trouble, you were a wealth of information for our studies. Besides, I had to see what Nick's remaining kid was up to. It would seem that your brain resets itself somehow when under pressure, because two weeks after we found you again you went into a comatose state. You know the rest," the older man finished.

Duo frowned, suddenly remembering something that he'd forgotten sometime into his new life with Wufei. "When I woke up, I read my chart and it said I was in code orange or something like that. What did that mean?"

Daryl looked curious for a moment before smiling, putting a finger to his chin in thought. "Ah yes, I remember. You had just had a seizure from a new anesthesia we gave you, bad reaction. We had actually just been about to perform exploratory surgery inside your skull, you know. That's when you had the problem. You were all prepped and we were this close to shaving off your hair for the incision, but then you had the negative reaction to the drug and we had to cancel to stabilize you. The code label 'orange' meant you were in critical condition. I suppose the seizure was what caused your mind to reset again this time," Daryl finished, writing this down on his clipboard as if in interest. He missed the burning look of hate from Wufei and the absolute shock from Duo.

"Exploratory surgery?" he exclaimed in alarm. "What the hell! You don't just open up someone's head and poke around for the hell of it! With no medical reason to do so! That can't be legal!"

The older man shrugged, rubbing the bit of stubble on his chin as he studied Duo, ignoring the Chinese boy who looked like he wanted to jump up and murder him on the spot. That might just have been his critical mistake. "Legal or no, it would have provided us with invaluable information for ground breaking studies. You've been a participant in this study for a long time, Thomas, you have to understand that we just can't let that go. Which also means we're re-scheduling for your surgery."

"What?" Duo shrieked. "You can't fucking do that! How do you know you won't kill me?" he snarled. "Are any of your staff even medically qualified to perform surgery?"

"Not by license, but they have plenty of practice under their belts," Daryl said with a small smile. Besides his first mistake of ignoring Wufei's presence, his second mistake was admitting the upcoming surgery's danger while said ignored presence was not restrained in any way.

That was why Daryl went down hard when Wufei tackled him with a snarl of outrage, both landing on the floor. The older man's head hit the hard tiled floor with just enough strength to daze him. Without really thinking, Wufei straddled the man and grabbed two fistfuls of his white lab coat, yanking Daryl up by his upper body only to slam him back to the ground. This time he was knocked unconscious by the second, more forceful blow to his head, and the Chinese boy quickly began to search his pockets for a key of any sort. He found nothing but a few pens and a shoddy swiss army knife, ignoring Duo's frantic questioning as he observed the room with a calculating glance. Wufei's searching gaze found a security camera in the far corner of the room, and it gave him an idea. The Chinese boy unfolded the pocket knife and dragged Daryl's lax body closer to the camera, holding the blade to the older man's throat.

"Hey!" Wufei called as he stared up at the lense, watching in satisfaction as the camera pointed more directly at him. "Whoever's up there in security, you'd better send someone down here to let us out, or this son of a bitch gets it!" he threatened, staring brazenly into the camera. Could he kill a man in cold blood? He wasn't at all sure, but he hoped they'd call him on it and release them.

They didn't have to wait long, as they heard the door unlock about a minute later just before it burst open. Several armed security guards rushed in, but stopped when Wufei threatened them to stay back. He branded the blade closer to his hostage's neck, glaring hard at the men. "I mean it. You get someone to unlock Duo or I'll slice this bastard's throat!"

"Come on kid, let him go, this isn't worth it..." one of the guards said in a pleading voice, trying to sway him.

Wufei would have none of it. "Fuck you!" he snarled. "You've been performing illegal experiments on my friend and I was told that I can't ever leave here anyway, so what the hell makes you think I care if it's worth it or not? If it ever came up it'd be in self defense and I wouldn't have a thing to worry about! So fucking unlock him now or I'll do it!" he shouted, tightening his hold on the weapon. The security guards watched him warily, some of them reaching for their guns. "And don't try to shoot me, because I'll use him as a shield!" Wufei threatened, shaking the still limp body of Daryl for emphasis.

"You'd better do it," Duo suddenly warned them from his position on the bed. "He's fucking pissed, you guys."

The security personnel shared concerned looks amongst themselves before one of them took the radio off of his belt. The man held it up to his mouth and pressed a button, sending the command for someone to bring the keys for Duo's restraints. Wufei felt his heartbeat speed up in excitement. This was it, they actually had a chance of getting out! He'd have to hold onto Daryl for as long as he could to ensure their safety, and even then it would be risky. They already knew he was willing to injure the man for Duo's sake, so there was really nothing stopping them from shooting at the braided boy to get Wufei to cooperate... He hoped to high heaven it would not come to that...

When one of the white-coats arrived with a ring of keys, he nervously crept into the room. "Go on," Wufei told the man impatiently. "Unlock him!" He watched carefully as the nervous guy made his way to Duo's bed, occasionally glancing down at Daryl to make sure he was well and truly out of it. The last thing he needed was for the bastard to wake up and give him trouble, not when things were going in their favor for the moment. If he could just pull off this stunt and get himself and Duo out of here...

"Good," he told the white-coat, watching as Duo's left wrist was unlocked from the steel manacle, followed by the right. The brunette immediately ripped the various wires off of his body and forehead before jumping out of bed and hurrying over to Wufei. "Now clear the door!" the Chinese boy ordered them all. "Not outside, move to the opposite end of the room, all of you!" he barked. "And whoever has the keys to this room, toss them over here! Guns too!"

The two boys watched as the staff worriedly eyed each other, but one more insistence from Wufei persuaded them to dig around in their pockets and throw over their keys. The four security guards crouched down and slid their weapons over as well. Duo gathered these up hurriedly without having to be asked by his friend, already figuring out what Wufei was planning to do. Besides the guns, there were only three sets of keys, two from a couple of the security guards the third from one of the scientists. Wufei started to back out of the room, telling Duo to keep behind him as they moved. "Don't any of you think about pulling a fast one, or I'll make sure this creep is done for!" he warned, watching as they forced themselves to stand by. As soon as they were out of the room, Duo shut the door and locket it, feeling relief wash through him. "We're almost out of here, Duo, keep on your toes," Wufei told him.

The braided boy nodded in haste, throwing three of the guns into a nearby trash can and hesitantly keeping the fourth one for their own safety. If anyone else hindered their escape they would need more than just a three inch pocket knife as defense. He turned back to his friend just in time to see Daryl's arm lash out from its previously unmoving position. "Look out!" Duo shouted in surprise.

But Daryl was too fast, knocking the pocket knife out of Wufei's hand and elbowing him in the stomach harshly, sending the dark haired boy to the ground in pain. Daryl lashed out for the garbage can and knocked it over, grabbing up one of the disposed guns and pointing it at the frightened Chinese boy, finger squeezing the trigger.

Duo felt cold, dreadful horror pool in his stomach as he watched the gun turn on his friend. "WUFEI!" he screamed.

A thunderous gun shot put the commotion to silence.

_End Chapter 7_

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Ooooohhh naughty cliff hanger! D

Eh, I'm kind of iffy on the topic of what's been going on with Duo. I originally planned something much more sinister and sci-fi then memory testing, but I didn't want the story to get _too _out there, I dunno... Let me know what you guys think, if I should have gone a step up or if the plot is good like this. If enough people feel it's in order, I might just revamp this chapter to change the key plot of what the scientists have been doing to Duo.


	8. SB Timeline of Events

**A/N: **Sorry everyone, I was going to post this last night with the new chapter but I forgot. I know a lot of stuff is flying around in this story so I've been working on a timeline to make things a little clearer for everyone who's reading.

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**Shadows Beneath Timeline**

4/3/89 Duo is born as Thomas Reeves

6/17/91 Duo(age 2) enrolled in memory program

2/29/93 Nicholas and Cecelia Reeves die in car crash

4/5/93 Duo(4) and Solo(7) escape research facility to live on the streets while Duo's mind becomes increasingly jumbled

8/14/93 Solo(8) dies of pneumonia and Duo(4) remains alone on the streets

12/11/95 Duo(6) is taken in by Father Maxwell in the church. Duo is never adopted, living at the orphanage

10/3/97 Church burns down and Duo(8) returns to the city streets with no where else to go

3/14/00 Duo(11) meets Trowa(12) at school and the two become friends.

9/2/00 Duo(12) meets Quatre(12) through Trowa (13)

6/2/03 Duo(15) is involved in hit and run and sent to intensive care

6/25/03 Duo(15) pronounced dead in hospital

4/18/05 Duo(17) wakes up in MemTech Corp. and escapes, meeting Wufei

9/3/05 Duo(17) is recaptured, along with Wufei

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**In2lalaland: **I know it was mean, that's kinda why I did it. x3 I'm glad you liked it, though.


	9. I Guess I'm Floating

A/N 8/13/11: Made a few small changes to fix an inconsistency(thanks to chibi heishi for alerting me). Doesn't change anything significant in the plot except for one scene below. I accidentally made Heero in two roles at once. xD

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Shadows Beneath

Chapter 8: I Guess I'm Floating

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"_What you risk reveals what you value."_

_-__Jeanette Winterson_

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Duo's hands shook as he stared at the grisly scene, falling to his knees in the dreadfully quiet hallway because of his unsteady legs. The thick red blood was slowly pooling across the white tiles, staining it like wine on a carpet. Duo could only tremble in shock as he stared at the mess.

He was regarded with an equally shocked expression from Wufei, who also sat quite unable to move from his spot.

"Oh my god," Duo whispered, his frantically shaking hands losing their grip on the warm gun so it clattered to the floor. The sound made him jump, and he started to scoot away from the blood that was traveling towards him. "Oh my god," he repeated, staring at the dead body of Daryl, his supposed godfather. He just... he shot a man... _killed _him... That much blood had to have meant he was dead, there was just _so much _of it. But he hadn't even thought before he'd done it! Seeing Daryl point the gun at Wufei, pulling the trigger back to fire point blank in his face... Before Duo had even known what he was doing he'd shot the bastard dead.

Duo jumped in surprise when someone hooked their arms under his own and pulled him upright, recognizing Wufei's harried voice behind him. "You have to calm down!" the Chinese boy told him worriedly, turning the brunette to face him. "Breathe, Duo!"

The braided boy hadn't realized that he'd been holding his breath again, so he opened his mouth and sucked in a lungful of air, almost choking on it. "I killed him," he breathed haggardly, still unable to quite get over it.

"Only because he was going to kill me," Wufei insisted quietly, moving in front of Duo's line of sight so the other boy would stop staring at the corpse. Frightened blue eyes met his own when he called the brunette's name. "If you hadn't acted then I would be dead right now. Do you regret that?"

"No!" Duo exclaimed in horror.

"Then don't beat yourself up over it anymore than you already have," Wufei told him a little more softly. "If you must mourn him, mourn the fact that he was never the godfather he should have been to you."

Blue eyes flickered over Wufei's shoulder to stare at the corpse, his brows furrowed. "I mourn the fact that this is more fodder for sleepless nights. Let's just get out of here," he said to his friend, realizing they were dawdling terribly for an escape. He took Wufei's words to heart, though, sighing as he kicked the underside of his godfather's shoe. "Rest in peace Daryl, I guess," he told the body on the ground, following Wufei down towards a door marked 'exit.' He pushed away the thought of what he'd just done and focused on getting out of this place. It was gnawing at his brain from some dark corner, but he tried his best to keep his attention where it should be.

"Come on," Wufei said in a low voice, peeking around a corner to check for possible enemies before the moved. "We're going to the police. I don't know why we didn't before."

"Probably because it seemed too surreal," Duo remarked quietly, unable to feel the humor despite his initial instinct to make light of the situation, a defense mechanism he figured. "I'm so gonna need therapy after this," he snorted.

"I suppose so," Wufei replied with a quirked eyebrow, still worried about his friend. Duo was still in some form of shock, and he was trying to mask it with the usual jokes. It was understandable, though. Despite the fact that Daryl had not been innocent in the least, Duo had still taken a life, and it had visibly shaken him. Wufei himself felt no remorse, as it was hard to feel pity for someone who'd been about to shoot him in the face. Not to mention all of the shit Daryl had put the brunette through. But Duo was the one who pulled the trigger to end the man's life, so he couldn't place himself in the other boy's shoes and assume he knew how he would've reacted in Duo's place.

Wufei abruptly came back to the here and now when they heard a commotion down the hall, placing a hand in front of Duo to stop him. The boys waited tensely for a good minute and a half before they could discern the sounds down the hall. It sounded like doors being smashed in, and the shouting was slowly becoming clearer.

"_Police! Get down!"_

"Oh god," Duo whispered immediately, feeling his heart start to hammer frantically in his chest as he backed up a step. He turned frightened eyes to Wufei, looking almost like he was a rabbit about to bolt from a pack of hunting dogs. "Wufei-" he squeaked.

"Shh," the Chinese boy replied, placing his hands on the brunette's shoulders to keep him in place. "It's alright, they're not after you. Someone must have seen when they took us and called the police," he assured, feeling Duo's body jerk under his grasp when they saw an officer with a gun round the corner.

The man saw them immediately and lowered his weapon, walking closer to address the two boys. "Duo Maxwell and Wufei Chang?" he asked curtly, keeping his guard up just in case.

"Yes, that's us," Wufei replied, knowing very well that Duo was too frightened to respond. He knew the brunette was afraid of being taken in for killing Daryl, and he wouldn't stop being wary of that possibility until they verbally dismissed his actions as self-defense.

The policeman came closer to check them over for injuries, sparing a concerned glance for Duo before lifting a radio to his mouth. "This is Deputy Carlson, I've found the boys, over," he said into the device, pulling it back a little as his received a static-laced affirmative. "If you boys will come with me?" he asked, gesturing down the hall he had come. Wufei nodded, gently nudging the still quiet Duo to follow Deputy Carlson down the corridor. The man began explaining on the way, his gun drawn to protect the two from any further threats. "Two days ago we got a call from a young man who said he was a friend of yours, Quatre Winner," he said, glancing back at the two.

"He said he had received a call from you Friday, and when he called back later in the day he got no response. When he tried again, the number was out of service. The day after, neither of your employers saw you at work, and your friend called police with an insane story about amnesia and kidnapping," Carlson said, shaking his head. "We didn't believe it at first, but we did some checking and it turned out your grocery store was employing the same Duo Maxwell that had supposedly died two years ago."

"That's me," Duo joked weakly, eyeing the cop nervously and making sure to keep his distance. Those handcuffs were just barely visible from one of the pockets on his belt, glinting dangerously and reminding Duo every second of what he felt was sure to happen. They would find out, they would find Daryl's dead body and they would get his fingerprints from the gun and see him on the security videos. He hadn't meant to _kill _the man. If he'd had a moment to think rationally he would have just wounded him and got the gun away from him, but he'd been a fraction away from killing Wufei and he couldn't live with that so he just pointed anywhere at Daryl and pulled the trigger. It just happened to hit somewhere vital, he hadn't done it on purpose... had he?

Duo shivered as they walked, he hadn't been paying attention to the cop or Wufei and he didn't know what they had been speaking about, if anything. He was too busy fretting, because he saw more police entering the building and swarming the halls as they left, searching rooms and looking for anymore captives and the personnel, sure to make plenty of arrests. That meant they would come across the body any moment. Someone would radio to the rest of the officers, and the guy escorting them would start to wonder. Who would shoot the guy? Certainly not one of the other scientists or 'doctors.' That would turn their suspicion to him and seeing him so nervous and antsy they'd know right away-

Duo almost jumped about a foot in the air when Wufei grabbed his hand in a soft hold. He looked over at the other boy in surprise, and Wufei just gave him a strong, steady gaze. _It's going to be okay, _that gaze said, and Duo felt his chest contract painfully. So he took a deep breath, nodded silently to Wufei, and tried to compose himself. And despite the fact that his purpose had been achieved, the Chinese boy did not pull away, instead letting their hands remain joined. Even stranger, Duo didn't mind. It was quite comforting, and if he were to be completely honest with himself, he didn't _want _Wufei's hand to leave.

In fact, he felt a great deal of the anxiety start to settle down when Wufei's fingers squeezed gently around his own. Maybe with his roommate on his side to vouch for him, things would turn out okay.

Maybe.

* * *

Wufei sat slouched in the hard plastic chair, staring valiantly at the clock on the wall in such a way that not a single shift of the second hand went by without him noticing. He was currently settled none too comfortably at the police station, counting every minute that they had Duo alone. After they had been checked over at the hospital and discharged with only a few sprains, the cops had taken the reigns. Wufei had given his statement on the whole thing, which had taken about twenty minutes to go through everything that had happened since me met Duo.

Now they were taking the brunette's statement, and obviously paying him much closer attention since he was the focus of the plot. That, and as Duo had feared, they found Daryl's body. They had been with the cop escorting them at the time, when the man got a grim report over his radio. Unable to help himself, Duo just blurted out 'I did it,' his face pale and fearful.

He had not been allowed to see Duo since they left the hospital, to avoid collaboration of a cover story. He had no doubt that Duo would be completely honest, since they already knew he committed the act, but that could never stop him from worrying. Would they be playing good cop bad cop in there? Were they trying to scare a motive out of him or were they being understanding because of all the shit he'd been put through? He didn't like the idea of Duo being alone in there, and even if he couldn't speak for the brunette, he would at least like to be present to offer support.

And it had now been an hour since they'd taken Duo for questioning. It made his stomach churn, because after all that trauma of finding out about his parents and brother and having to shoot a man, he was now being grilled for information. That did not sit well with him at all, and he wanted to go find the nearest officer and chew them out for being so pushy and overbearing with his Duo.

Wait...

...His?

When had that happened?

But the thought flew from his mind when he heard voices down the hall. When his head whipped away from the clock, it was with great relief that he saw Duo being escorted out from the interrogation rooms in the back. He stood up to meet the brunette, but stilled in surprise when Duo automatically wrapped his arms around Wufei. The other boy was trembling faintly, and for a horrible second he thought the worst had happened...

"Self defense," Duo breathed out, face buried in his friend's shoulder.

Wufei deflated as he felt the worry and apprehension seep out of his body like a retreating flood, bringing up his arms to return the embrace and pull Duo close. Self defense. Those two magic words made everything right, made everything go away for just a few moments because Duo's whole life would not be fucked over by that black mark on his record. If he'd gotten in trouble for that, Wufei would have lost all faith in justice, the law, and humanity as a whole.

When they pulled away, Duo looked absolutely exhausted, both physically and emotionally, so he turned a stern look on the cops who had walked him out. "May we leave now?" he asked politely.

Before Wufei and Duo were released, they were poked and prodded for a few more statements and the cops went over some precautions with them. Wufei had to wonder how likely it was that they'd missed any of the staff, and how far those people would be willing to go if they ever found the boys who had ruined their whole operation. Wufei didn't call the cops on it, opting instead to just let them handle it and steer Duo out.

They were given a ride home from one of the officers, since Wufei's motorcycle had not been recovered from the facility. He absently wondered what had become of his bike as they passed down the dark city streets, but he found when he thought on it, he didn't care too much since they'd gotten out of there with their lives intact. If it meant Duo would avoid exploratory surgery on his brain by unlicensed 'surgeons,' then he'd give up his motorcycle any day of the week without complaint.

When they got home, Duo gingerly sat on the couch and pulled his legs up to his chest, leaning back into the cushions with a dogged look in his eyes. Wufei came over and sat next to him, close enough so that Duo could lean into him and letting him do so without a word. They stayed like that for a long time, without any sort of sound to disturb the odd peace that came with being back home after the ordeal. It was both welcoming and a little strange to know the whole thing was finally over.

After the seemingly customary silence, Duo finally spoke. "You know, when Quat told me about the orphanage and how no one wanted me, I started to question whether I'd ever had a family," he said thoughtfully. "But I did. I had a mom, a dad, and a brother. I just don't... Why would my parents put me into that program?" he wondered with a distraught look.

"I have a feeling they were conned into it," Wufei mused, glancing over at Duo. "It probably started off with good intentions, but Daryl took the whole thing a good few steps too far," he surmised. "After your parents died, he was able to get away with whatever he wanted because they weren't around to have a say in your treatment."

"I guess," Duo relented slowly. In a way, he wanted to believe that his parents had good intentions, and had been roped into something much darker than they knew. He wanted to believe that they'd meant him no harm, hoping he might even benefit from it somehow. But the other part of him wanted to blame them. For everything. Whether or not they thought it would be good for him or the world, the decision was out of his hands, and out of the hands of his protesting brother. He wanted to shake them and scream that all this torture was because of them. If they hadn't put him in... some _study, _some experiment that he had no say in, it wouldn't have fucked with his brain. He wouldn't 'reset' when something went wrong and pushed him over the edge.

Solo wouldn't have died.

Even if he didn't have his parents, he still would have had his brother. He barely had any time with Nicholas and Cecilia Reeves because of their work, but Solo had been his stable rock through his childhood, watching out for him and trying to end his involvement in the study. Now he was dead because they'd been forced to run away from that horrible place.

Duo sighed angrily, leaning further into Wufei with his eyebrows furrowed. The Chinese boy didn't need to ask what was going on in his head, he just set an arm around Duo's shoulders and offered silent support.

* * *

A week after their escape from the facility, things were settling down, but the pieces had fallen into a different pattern. They went back to work and Wufei back to school, going about their normal lives, but something had changed. Things were... uncertain between Duo and Wufei. Not so much that they didn't know what was going on, but they didn't know how to go about it. They shared an occasional moment, where a touch lingered longer than necessary, where a glance would stir up odd feelings, where Duo found himself looking at Wufei a little too intently.

Before they could look too closely into the shift in balance, Quatre had fallen into the picture. Duo knew he'd been worried, and he had the blonde to thank for someone finding them. Otherwise he'd probably have his brain removed by now. So he gave Quatre a call the next day after he'd had time to recuperate, just to assure him that he was alright. The blonde hadn't had a chance to visit them at the hospital, because by the time he'd heard the two boys had been found they were already at the police station getting grilled.

So once he'd contacted Quatre, he suggested a day out to talk over lunch. He needed to reestablish with the blonde and the other friends he'd once been so close to.

In the meantime, he found that once he stopped trying to force it, things began to trickle back to him in bits and pieces. He would look at an object or smell something or see a place that would trigger faint memories, which began to solidify over time and fill in the gaps. It was a little overwhelming, because he had three separate chunks of his life meshing together all the sudden. There was phase one, with the facility and then being on the streets. After Solo died, Thomas Reeves died as well and he woke up as Duo Maxwell in the orphanage. Thankfully his identity had been preserved this time, and phase three started his life with Wufei.

Now all of these parts of him were intermingling, forming themselves along a timeline of his disjointed life and memories. It was overpowering at first, but he'd learned to let it happen and just sort it out quietly so he could come to terms with everything that had happened.

That was why he felt almost giddy on the day of lunch, because memories of his friends had been coming back. He headed to their meeting spot with Wufei and Heero, whom he'd gotten closer to over the few months he'd stayed with Wufei. What had started out as the thought of relearning people he didn't remember, turned into something like the feeling of seeing old friends after a long time apart. Which resulted in something kind of embarrassing, but entirely more heartbreaking when he met them again for the first time.

"Trowa!" he exclaimed in a choked voice, rushing forward to meet the taller boy and catch him in a tight hug, shocking him.

"You remember?" the green eyed boy asked in surprise.

"Of course I remember you!" Duo said in a thick voice, smiling as he pulled away. "You were my first friend ever. You sat with me when I was crying at recess," he said, just as the memory popping into his mind for the first time. "Tro," he said in a wobbly voice, eyebrows drawing up.

"Don't get all sappy on me," Trowa admonished softly, obviously holding back some girly tendencies as well. He settled for patting Duo on the back, who turned to his next target.

"Hilde," he breathed with a grin, walking right up to the German girl and standing before her with a cheeky look. "You don't like hugs," he said, remembering her adamant role as tomboy.

"Oh shut up," Hilde said gruffly, pulling the braided boy to her in a tight hold that nearly crushed all the air from his lungs.

Duo hugged her back, patting her soothingly because he felt her emotions bubbling just under the surface, but after all the breath left him and he couldn't inhale far enough to get new oxygen, he patted the girl on the back. "Okay, down girl," he wheezed, stepping back when Hilde released him and taking a deep breath.

Wufei and Quatre stood by, watching all this with amused smiles that couldn't help but belay the emotional reaction. Then Duo turned to look at them, grabbing them and dragging them forward to create one whole group. "Wufei, these are my friends," he said proudly, voice still a little choked. "Trowa, Hilde, this is Wufei and Heero. Wufei took me in when I first woke up a few months ago. He's... he's the reason I'm here," he said with a huge smile, beaming at Wufei. He then turned to look at them all as a whole, all five faces he'd met at different walks of life. "My friends," he said to himself. "My family."

"It's good to have you back from the dead," Trowa told him in an affectionate voice, reaching a hand out to ruffle Duo's bangs and earning laughter from the braided boy.

Things were looking up, and Duo wondered if hearts could break from happiness.

* * *

A little over a week later, things had continued to develop around them in an odd way. Duo could feel it in the air when they were in the same room, like an electrical charge hanging over them in a cloud. It was heavy, but not in an overbearing sort of way. It felt more like something was building up, something was going to happen, but he didn't know what. He didn't know if he loathed the anticipation or loved it.

All he knew for sure was that every time Wufei looked at him with those dark, intense eyes, a little thrill of excitement went up his spine and gave him shivers.

The first kiss was the barest brush of lips, tentative and searching as they began to affirm what was happening. They had grown extremely close as friends over the last few months, and somewhere along the way without either of them noticing when or where, it had turned into something more. Duo wanted to welcome this change with open arms, but it scared him to a degree. He'd never known a feeling like this before and it was a little intense. But there was no way he could ignore what he obviously felt in his heart and soul, that this bond with Wufei was probably the strongest he'd ever experienced in his life.

Wufei seemed just as nervous as he was. Things had obviously moved fast, and they had developed the friendship under abnormal circumstances. Most people met in school, or at work, or any number of other normal conditions. But Duo had been abruptly thrown into his life, and with that new entity his world had been turned upside down with the consequences that followed him like a shadow. He'd had a girlfriend briefly in the past, but he'd never been so connected to another human being on such a deep level. It was new territory, and he almost felt that they were too young to feel such a strong bond, romantic or not, but he'd gone through hell with Duo and nothing would break that.

He realized this just as they gravitated back for a second butterfly touch, causing him to lean in a little closer and make it a full on kiss. He felt Duo exhale in a sigh through his nose and tilt his head just a little, creating better access. The sensation was thrilling, like that feeling that had been hanging over them built up in their bodies and met in a static shock. When they parted for air, heavy eyelids pulled back to watch each other quietly and evaluate what had just happened.

After a few moments, Duo spoke.

"Hold my hand," he said simply, recalling being strapped to that fake hospital bed and Wufei staying by his side no matter what. When he thought he'd be arrested for shooting his godfather, and Wufei wordlessly took his hand, suddenly making everything okay.

He wanted that feeling again. He wanted the closeness, the connection, fingers laced with his in a reminder that he _had _someone, and that someone had risked his life for him when he'd risked his own life in return. They had been through so much more, but that was all it would take to make him happy. That was all he needed for the moment.

So Wufei took his hand, their fingers twining together as Duo smiled, feeling the absolute peace at his core take over in a flood of elation. His heart was pounding a little too fast, and his stomach felt fluttery, but that was how it was supposed to feel.

...And that was perfect.

* * *

_Where there are shadows, there is light._

_~Shadows Beneath~_

* * *

A/N: Another story finished, and what a way to end. I think I'm experiencing a sweetness overload. Thank you guys for sticking with me!


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